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BUENOS AYRES 



AND 



THE PROVINCES OF THE 



RIO DE LA PLATA 



THEIR PRESENT STATE, TRADE, AND DEBT 



WITH SOME ACCOUNT FROM ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OF THE PROGRESS 

OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY IN THOSE PARTS OF SOUTH 

AMERICA DURING THE LAST SIXTY YEARS. 



BY 



SIR WOODBINE PARISH, K.C.H J 

> i 

F.R.S., G.S., VICK PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, 

f 
MANY YEARS HIS MAJESTY'S CHARGE D'AFFAIRES AT BUENOS AYRES, 



LONDON: 
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 

1839. 



LONDON : 

Printed by William Clowks and Sons, 

Stamford Street. 




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INTRODUCTION. 



The greater part of the materials for this volume 
were collected during a long official residence in the 
country to which they relate : containing, as I believe 
they do, some information which may be interesting, 
if not useful, I feel that I ought not to withhold them 
from the public, in whose service they were obtained. 
The chapters which give an accbtiht 6f the settle- 
ments made by the old Spaniards on the coast of 
Patagonia, and of the explorations of the Pampas south 
of Buenos Ayres, both by them and their successors 
in the present century, will be found to throw some 
new light on the progress of geographical discovery 

. ' in that part of the world. Our occupation of the 
Falkland Islands, in the first instance, and the work 

^ shortly afterwards published by Falkner in this coun- 
try, pointing out the defenceless state of Patagonia, 

V. joined to the enterprising character of the British 
voyages of discovery about the same period, appears 

- to have stimulated the Spaniards, in alarm lest we 
should forestall them, to examine their coasts, to 

(J explore their rivers, and to found settlements, of 
which every record was concealed from public view, 
lest the world at large should become better ac- 

a2 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

quainted with possessions, all knowledge of which 
it was their particular care and policy to endeavour 
to keep to themselves. 

Thus, though Spain, at an enormous cost, acquired 
some better information relative to countries over 
which she claimed a nominal sovereignty, the results 
were not suffered to transpire, but remained locked 
up in the secret archives of the viceroys and of the 
council of the Indies ; where probably they would 
have been hidden to this day had not the South 
Americans assumed the management of their own 
affairs. 

In the confusion which followed the deposition of 
the Spanish authorities, the public archives appear 
to have been ransacked with little ceremony, and 
many documents of great interest were lost, or fell 
into the hands of individuals who, like collectors of 
rarities in other parts of the world, showed anything 
but a disposition to share them with the public at 
large. I will not say that this was always the case, 
but the feeling prevailed to a sufficient extent to en- 
hance materially the value of those which were either 
offered for sale or obtainable by other means. 

Some few individuals were actuated by a different 
spirit, amongst Avhom I ought especially to name 
Dr. Segurola, the fellow-labourer with Dean Funes 
in his historical essay upon the provinces of La Plata, 
whose valuable collection of MSS. (from which that 
work was principally compiled) was always acces- 
sible to his friends, and to whom I have to acknow- 



INTRODUCTION. V 

ledge my own obligations for leave to take copies of 
many an interesting paper. Others, also, whom I do 
not name^ will I trust not the less accept my thanks 
for the facilities they afforded me for obtaining such 
information as I required. The government, I must 
say, was always liberal, in giving me access to the 
old archives, and in permitting me to transcribe docu- 
ments * which I could not have obtained from other 
quarters. 

With these facilities, and by purchase, I found 
myself, by the time I quitted South America, in 
possession of a considerable collection of MS. maps 
and of unedited papers respecting countries of which 
the greater part of the world is, I believe, in almost 
absolute ignorance. 

Amongst the most interesting perhaps of these I 
may mention — 

The original Diaries of Don Juan de la Piedra, 
sent out from Spain, in 1778, to explore the coasts of 
Patagonia. 

A series of papers drawn up by his successors the 
Viedmas, the founders of the settlements at San 
Julian and on the Rio Negro. 

The original Journal of Don Basilio Villarino, 
who, in 1782, explored the great river Negro, from 
its mouth in lat. 41° to the foot of the Andes, within 

* Amongst other documents which I obtained through the kind- 
ness of the government were some large topographical maps of the pro- 
vince of Buenos Ay res, drawn expressly for me by desire of General 
Kosas, the present governor, comprising all the data respecting that 
province, collected by the topographical department up to the year 
1834. 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

three days' journey of Valdivia, on the shores of the 
Pacific. 

The Narrative, by Don Luis de la Cruz, of his 
Journey through the territory of the Indians and the 
unexplored parts of the Pampas, from Antuco, in the 
south of Chili, to Buenos Ayres, in 1806. 

The Diary of Don Pedro Garcia's Expedition to 
the Salinas, in 1810, given me by my most estimable 
friend, his son, Don Manuel. 

Together with a variety of other unpublished 
accounts of the Indian territories south of Buenos 
Ayres, principally collected by order of that govern- 
ment, with a view to the extention of their frontiers. 

The substance of these papers, all which relate 
to the southern and least known parts of the New 
Continent, will be found in Chapters VII., VIII., 
and IX. 

Respecting the eastern or littorine provinces of 
the Republic, as I have ventured to call them, 
the most valuable data existing are, first, those 
collected by the Jesuits, and next, the various re- 
ports and memoirs drawn up by the officers em- 
ployed to fix the boundaries under the treaties 
between Spain and Portugal of 1750 and 1777. 
The especial qualifications of the individuals, particu- 
larly of those employed in the last case, the length 
of time spent upon the service (more than twenty 
years), and the enormous expenses incurred by Spain 
in the endeavour to complete that survey, led to a 
large accumulation of invaluable geographical data 



INTRODUCTION. vii 

respecting extensive ranges of country never before 
properly examined, much less described. 

Nor were the labours of the officers in question 
confined to the frontiers. They fixed, as I have 
stated in Chapter VIII., all the principal points 
in the province of Buenos Ay res, made surveys 
of the great rivers Parana and Uruguay, and of 
their most important tributaries ; and drew up many 
notices of great interest respecting the countries bor- 
dering upon the higher parts of the Paraguay, which 
the pretensions of the Portuguese in that direction 
rendered it requisite for them to explore with more 
than ordinary care and attention"^. 

M. Walckenaer's publication at Paris, in 1809, of 
the Travels of Don Felix Azara, one of the King 
of Spain's commissioners on that service, contains a 
general review of the labours of those officers, and is 
perhaps the best work in print upon the countries 
which it describes ; still it can only be regarded as a 
very imperfect sketch of the information collected by 
one of many able men employed upon that particular 
service. 

Another of the commissioners, Don Diego Alvear, 
drew up an historical and geographical work upon 
the provinces of Paraguay and the Missions, quite 
equal in interest, if not more so, than that by Azara, 

* A re-calculation by M. Oltmanns, of some of the observations of 
the Boundary Commissioners, has slightly altered a few of their 
positions : his corrections will be found in the volume for 1830, of the 
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin. 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

for a MS. copy of which I have to thank his son, the 
present General Alvear. 

Colonel Cabi*er, the only surviving officer of all 
those employed on this important survey, was living 
during the time I was at Buenos Ayres, and for many 
years had, to my knowledge, been engaged in drawing 
up an elaborate account of the whole progress of the 
survey from first to last ; in his possession I saw a 
complete set of all the beautiful maps executed by the 
Spanish officei-s, the originals of which are deposited 
at Madrid. He is lately dead, and I understand that 
the authorities of Buenos Ayres have been in treaty 
for the purchase of his papers, which will be of the 
greatest importance, not only to them, but to the 
governments of the Banda Oriental, of Paraguay, 
and of Bolivia, whenever the time comes, as it must 
ere long, for definitively fixing their respective boun- 
daries with Brazil. I considered myself fortunate in 
obtaining copies of several detached portions of these 
surveys, and particularly of an original map, drawn 
from them by Colonel Cabrer himself for General 
Alvear, when commanding-in-chief in the Banda 
Oriental in 1827. 

There is no doubt that, so far as the Spanish 
frontiers extended, these maps are the best existing 
data respecting the countries which they delineate : 
on the other hand, we must look to the Portuguese 
authorities for materials for the adjoining provinces 
of Brazil. The most perfect map of that part of 
the continent perhaps ever made was drawn at Rio 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

de Janeiro in 1827, for the use of the Marquis of 
Barbacena, when appointed to command the Em- 
peror's army in the war with Buenos Ayres, and was 
taken with his baggage at the battle of Ituzaingo, 
and afterwards given to me. It comprises, on a 
large scale, all the country lying east of the Uruguay, 
from the Island of St. Catharine's to the River Plate. 
On my return to England I placed it in the hands of 
Mr. John Arrowsmith, with the rest of my geogra- 
phical materials. 

As regards the greater part of the interior pro- 
vinces west of the Paraguay, the information obtain- 
able is very imperfect ; indeed of some vast portions 
of those regions, it may be said that nothing but the 
general courses of the principal rivers is as yet 
known. The immense tract called the Gran-Chaco 
is still in possession of aboriginal tribes, and other 
extensive districts are inhabited by people who, 
though of a different race, seem little beyond them in 
civilization. 

It was not the policy of Spain to take the trouble 
of accurately examining her colonial possessions, 
except when obliged to do so in furtherance of mea- 
sures of self-defence, or in the expectation of some 
profitable return in the precious metals, the primary 
objects of her solicitude : and, but that the high road 
from Potosi to Buenos Ay res ran through them, I 
believe in Europe we should hardly have known, till 
recently, even the names of the capital towns of the 
intermediate provinces : it is only since their inde- 



X INTRODUCTION. 

pendence that they have brought themselves into 
notice, and that any information has been acquired 
of the nature and importance of their native pro- 
ducts. 

When I arrived at Buenos Ayres in 1824, in 
hopes of obtaining the best existing accounts of their 
statistics, I addressed myself to the governors them- 
selves ; and I have every reason to believe, under the 
circumstances, that they were desirous to meet my 
wishes. I received from them all the most civil as- 
surances to that effect ; but, excepting from the Entre 
Rios, Cordova, La Rioja, and Salta, I found the au- 
thorities themselves utterly unable to communicate 
anything of a definite or satisfactory nature ; and, 
although they promised to set to work to collect 
what I asked for, I soon found they had most of 
them other matters on hand which had more urgent 
calls on their attention. 

Of the information which I did so obtain, the most 
complete by far was from General Arenales, the 
Governor of Salta, who not only forwarded to 
me an interesting report upon the extent and various 
productions of that province, but, what I less ex- 
pected, a very fair map of it, drawn by his own son 
Colonel Arenales ; an individual who has since dis- 
tinguished himself amongst his countrymen by the 
publication of a work* wherein he has with great 
pains collected all the information he could obtain to 

* Noticias Historicas y Descriptivas sobre el gran pais del Chaco 
y Rio Vermejo, por Jose Arenales. — Buenos Aires, 1833, 8vo. 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

elucidate the geography and capabilities of a province 
which nature seems to have destined to be one of the 
most important of the Argentine Republic. Were 
his good example followed by equally intelligent in- 
dividuals in other parts of the interior, the natives, 
as well as foreigners, would be greatly assisted in 
learning not only what are the productions of their 
own country, but in Avhat manner they might be ren- 
dered available in furtherance of its prosperity. 

He has done his duty, and rendered a service to 
his country, by pointing out the great importance of 
the possibility, now proved beyond a doubt, of navi- 
gating the river Vermejo throughout its whole 
course, from Oran in the heart of the continent to its 
junction with the Parana, and thence to the ocean. 

Mr. Arrowsmith has adopted his delineation of 
the course of that river, as laid down from the diary 
of Cornejo, who descended it in 1790. Soria, who 
came down it in 1826, was deprived of all his papers 
in Paraguay ; and although, on reaching Buenos 
Ayres, five years afterwards, he not only published 
a short account of his voyage, but a map also to 
illustrate it, being entirely from memory, it is little 
to be depended upon ; neither is it reconcilable with 
the distance from Oran to the Paraguay, as estimated 
either by himself or Cornejo. dtjrAtuxi 

Of Soria's voyage, besides his own account, I had 
a much more full and curious narrative from an 
Englishman of the name of Luke Cresser, who was 
one of the party, and whose personal adventures 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

would form an entertaining episode in any history 
o|^ that enterprise. He was a Yorkshireman by 
birth, and originally a watchmaker, in which trade, 
after making a little money at Buenos Ayres, he 
had found his way into the upper provinces, and had 
finally become a grower of tobacco in the province 
of Oran. Having a large stock on hand about the 
time Soria was about to descend the Vermejo, he 
was induced to ship it, and to embark with him for 
Buenos Ayres. He was of the greatest service to 
the party on the voyage, and was severely wounded, 
in the skirmish they had with the Indians, by an 
arrow, which pierced his arm, and occasioned him 
much and long suffering afterwards. On reaching 
the Paraguay, had Soria listened to his urgent 
advice and entreaties, he never would have placed 
himself in Dr. Francia's power ; for which, indeed, 
there does not appear to have been the slightest 
necessity. When the vessel was detained by that 
despot's orders, Cresser, like the rest, was stripped 
of all he possessed ; and, after much suffering, was 
sent to Villa Real, — a wretched establishment on the 
Paraguay, about 150 miles above Assumption. 

There, whilst his companions were bewailing their 
fate, the more enterprising Englishman obtained 
leave to proceed into the interior to the forests, 
where the yerba or tea is gathered^ to work for his 
livelihood ; and with such success, that, from begin- 
ning without a dollar of his own, by the time he was 
allowed to leave Paraguay, five years afterwards, he 



INTRODUCTION. XIU 



found himself in comparative affluence ; and, though 
only permitted by the dictator to carry out of the 
country a portion of the yerba he had by his industry 
collected, he had still enough left when he sailed for 
Buenos Ayres to compensate him for the loss of all 
the tobacco with which he had originally sailed from 
Oran. The narrative of this person contains such 
curious details, not only respecting his residence in 
Paraguay, but also regarding the country about 
Oran, where he had passed some years previously to 
his voyage with Soria down the Vermejo, that I have 
thought it worth communicating to the Geographical 
Society for insertion, if they please, at length, in one 
of their periodical journals. 

If it was difficult to collect the m.ost ordinary 
statistical data relative to the interior, it may easily 
be supposed how much more so it was to obtain in- 
formation of any interest in a scientific point of view ; 
nevertheless, in this respect, I was not altogether 
without resources ; and the accidental residence of 
two or three observing and intelligent individuals of 
our own countrymen in the remotest parts of these 
widely-spread regions laid open to me sources of 
information even upon such matters as I little ex- 
pected. The results of that portion of my correspond- 
ence will be found in various parts of this Volume, 
where 1 have had the satisfaction of acknowledging 
my obligations to the individuals from whom they 
were derived. 

From the materials to which I have above alluded. 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

and other papers in my possession, my original inten- 
tion was to have attempted a work of a more exten- 
sive nature ; but any necessity for this has been since 
superseded by the pubhcation, which has been com- 
menced by M. de Angelis, at Buenos Ayres, under 
the auspices of the Government, of an extensive col- 
lection of unedited historical documents relative to 
the provinces of La Plata. 

In the course of the last three years five folio 
volumes, and portions of two more, have already ap- 
peared, in which not only many of the most interest- 
ing of the papers in my own collection are given, 
but a variety of others throwing great light upon 
the history and geography of the countries to which 
they relate'^. <|iiioa oi ^jin^uildijiit* iii m 

I cannot hesitate ta feay that it is infinitely the 
most important and interesting publication which has 
as yet appeared in any of the new states of Spanish 
America, to the great credit of the enlightened editor, 
who has illustrated it with his own learned notes and 
observations, the fruits of a long study of the history 
of his adopted country. 

Upon the appearance of the first volumes I gave 
up my own design, as a work of supererogation 
where one so much more valuable was attainable. 

* Colleccion de Obras y Documentos relatives a la Historia antigua 
y moderna de las Provinoias del Rio de la Plata, ilustrados con Notas 
y Disertaciones, por Pedro de Angelis. — Buenos Aires, 1836, folio. 
The completion of this work has been suspended for want of paper 
to go on with, owing to the French blockade of Buenos Ayres, since 
March, 1838. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

It became however manifest, as M. de Angelis' 
work proceeded, that its extent would rather render it 
available as a book of reference and authority than 
for general purposes ; and, as it was in the Spanish 
language, particularly so for the general purposes of 
English readers. I was again, therefore, induced to 
resume my task, though with the essential change 
in its character from my original plan, to the brief 
and general sketch of the Republic^ and of the pro- 
gress of geography in that part of the world during 
the last 60 years, which now appears ; referring those 
who desire more detailed information to the invalu- 
able collection of original memoirs now in course of 
publication by Don Pedro de Angelis : it has been of 
great use to me in enabling me to complete my own 
chain of information, as indeed it must be to any 
one who pretends to give any account of the part of 
the world of which the documents it contains may 
be said now to constitute the original and authenti- 
cated historical records. 

To M. de Angelis I am also indebted for the copy 
of a MS. map, by Don Alvarez de Condarco, in 
which are laid down not only a recent journey of his 
own in 1837, to examine the mines in the Indian ter- 
ritory south of the Diamante, but the several marches 
of the troops, detached from Mendoza, in 1833, to 
co-operate with the forces from Buenos Ayres under 
General Rosas, in the general attack made upon the 
native tribes. I had already received, as I have men- 
tioned in Chapter IX., through my friend Don 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

Manuel Garcia, a map drawn by General Pacheco, 
shoAving the march of the principal division of that 
army, along the banks of the River Negro, from the 
islands of Choleechel to the junction of the Neuquen. 

The routes in question have been very material to 
the lajdng down of the true com'ses of some of the 
many rivers which constitute the most important, 
though hitherto undescribed, features of that part of 
the continent : — and it is satisfactory to find that 
they are strikingly corroborative of the accounts, as 
far as they go, which I had already cited as given 
both by Villariilo, by Don Luis de la Cruz, and our 
own countryman, Dr. Gillies. 

Thus far I have spoken of my geographical mate- 
rials: — they will be found embodied in the accom- 
panying map of the Republic by Mr. John Arrow- 
smith, who has spared no time or labour in its 
construction. In this he has also availed himself of 
the invaluable recent survey of Captain FitzRoy, to 
give the whole of the line of coast upon the very best 
authority. In the interior the various routes, which 
appear now for the first time collected together, have 
been all reprotracted from the original sources of 
information, whilst a careful re -examination of the 
labours of the Boundary Commissioners and of other 
authenticated authorities has enabled him to correct 
many errors of position which had crept, I hardly 
know how, into the latest maps, not excepting those 
compiled in the topographical department of Buenos 
Ay res. 



INTRODUCTION. XVJi 

Upon the whole, although we have yet a vast deal 
to learn before any perfect map can be drawn of this 
extensive portion of the new continent, I trust that 
the present attempt will be regarded as no slight 
improvement upon our old geography of that part 
of the world ^. 

I regret that I lost, during my residence at Buenos 
Ay res, the opportunity of making what too late I 
learnt would have been very acceptable additions 
to our zoological collections ; but I never imagined 
that our public museums were so entirely destitute, 
as I found them upon my return, of specimens of the 
commonest objects of natural history, from a country 
with which we had been so many years in, I may 
say^ almost daily intercourse. Mr. Darwin, and 
the officers of His Majesty's ship Beagle, have 
since done much to supply these deficiencies ; but 
we still want, I believe, specimens of by far the 
greater part of the birds and beasts of which Azara 
gave us the description nearly forty years ago. The 
collections of some of the museums on the Continent 
are, I believe, much more complete ; especially those 
of Paris, to judge from the accounts of the acquisi- 
tions made by M. Alcide d'Orbigny, the fruits of 
many years spent in those countries, to which he was 
sent in 1826, expressly, I beheve, to collect informa- 
tion and specimens for the Museum of Natural 
History. 

* For the convenience of those who may desire to have it separately, 
the map may be had from Mr. Arrowsmith without the book. 

b 



XVlll INTRODUCTION. 

Instigated first by Dr. Buckland, I made those 
inquiries for fossil remains, the results of which I 
flatter myself have been of no common interest both 
to the geologist and comparative anatomist. The ex- 
amination of the monstrous bones which I sent to this 
country, by the learned individuals who have taken 
the pains to describe them, assists us to unravel the 
fabulous traditions handed down by the aborigines re- 
specting a race of Titans, whilst it proves indisputably 
that the vast alluvial plains in that part of the world, 
at some former period, the further history of which 
has not been revealed to us, were inhabited by herbi- 
vorous animals of most extraordinary dimensions, and 
of forms greatly differing from those of the genera 
now in existence. 

To the account of the Megatherium, and other 
extinct animals, I am now enabled, by a delay which 
has unavoidably occurred in the publication of this 
volume, to insert the representation of another ex- 
tinct monster, the Glyptodon, which has been very re- 
cently discovered at no great distance from the city 
of Buenos Ayres, apparently in a very perfect state, and 
which I trust ere long will be in England. Mr. Owen, 
of the College of Surgeons, has been good enough to 
draw up for me the description of it, which I have 
added in a note at the end of the tenth chapter. 

It is, perhaps, not unworthy of a passing observation 
here, that, amongst all the remains of extinct animals 
which we have now obtained from the Pampas, most 
of which too seem to have been singularly provided 



INTRODUCTION. xix 

with a structure for self-defence, no instance, I 
believe, has as yet been satisfactorily proved of the 
occurrence of any portion of a carnivorous animal. 

It only remains for me to allude to the third and 
last part of my book, upon the trade and public debt 
of the provinces of La Plata ; and of vrhich I can 
only say that I have spared no inquiry to render it 
as correct as is compatible with so brief and general 
a notice. The accounts officially published by the 
Government of Buenos Ayres, and the papers laid 
before Parliament, have enabled me to complete the 
Returns of Trade to the close of 1837. They show 
that the River Plate to the British manufacturer has 
been the most important of all the markets opened to 
him by the emancipation of the Spanish Americans ; 
and that the value of the British trade there alone 
exceeds the aggregate of all other foreign countries 
put together. Spain herself has not taken for many 
years past so large a quantity of British manufac- 
tured goods as, it appears, have been sent to the 
River Plate. 

The particulars of the debt have only been brought 
down to the commencement of 1837 ; for, although 
the accounts have since been published for another 
year, I confess I do not sufficiently understand them 
at this distance to attempt to explain them, further 
than to say that they show increased difficulties, 
from the lamentable and unexpected circumstances 
which have again disturbed the peace of the Re- 
public. 

b 2 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

On the party questions which have hitherto agi- 
tated the people of these countries, I have purposely 
said as little as possible ; much less have I thought 
of writing the history of a country which has not 
been a quarter of a century in existence ; the insti- 
tutions of which are quite in their infancy, and must 
necessarily require a long period ere they can assume 
a more definite character. 

The generality of my readers, I take it for granted, 
are acquainted with the nature of the old colonial 
government of Spain, with the events which led to 
the emancipation of the South Americans, and with 
the fact of their having declared for a democratic 
form of government in all the new states. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction Page iii. 

CHAPTER I. 

DIVISIONS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Extent, Divisions, and General Government of the Provinces of 
La Plata. Jurisdiction of the old Viceroyalties : — Necessity of 
dividing and sub-dividing such vast Governments : — Embarrass- 
ments arising out of this necessity. The backwardness in the 
Political organization of these Provinces, common to all the new 
Republics of South America ; and attributable to the same 
cause ; the Colonial system of the Mother Country. Mistake in 
comparing the condition of the Creoles with that of the British 
Colonists of North America. Natural ascendency of Mihtary 
Power in the new States. Their progress in the last twenty-five 
years compared with their previous condition . . . Page 1 

CHAPTER n. 

RIVER PLATE. 

The River Plate — why so called. Its immensity. Arrival oflF 
Buenos Ayres. Passengers carted on shore. Want of a better 
landing-place, for goods especially. Navigation of the River 
not so perilous as was supposed in former times . . Page 12 

CHAPTER III. 

CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

First Impressions of Buenos Ayres. Date of the Foundation, and 
insignificance of the Colony for a long period. Contraband 
Trade carried on through it a grievance to the Mother Country. 



XXU CONTENTS. 

Erected into a distinct Viceroyalty in 1776, and its trade opened 
in consequence of the modified system adopted by Spain about 
the same time. The advantages of this to Buenos Ayres. 

Page 18 

CHAPTER IV. 

POPULATION OF BUENOS AYRES. 

Statistics of the Population. Its great increase in the last fifty 
years. Castes into which it was formerly divided now dis- 
appearing. Numbers of Foreigners established there, especially 
British. Then* influence on the habits of the Natives. The 
Ladies of Buenos Ayres ; the Men and their occupations. 

Page 22 

CHAPTER V. 

CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

Great extent of the City. Pubhc Buildings. Inconvenient Ar- 
rangement and want of Comfort in the DwelHngs of the Natives 
a few years ago. Prejudice against Chimneys. Subsequent 
Improvements introduced by Foreigners. Iron gratings at the 
windows necessary. Water scarce and dear. That of the River 
Plate excellent, and capable of being kept a very long time. 
Pavement of Buenos Ayres Page 36 

CHAPTER VI. 

CLIMATE OF BUENOS AYRES AND ITS EFFECTS. 

Climate of Buenos Ayres, liable to sudden changes. Influence of 
the North Wind. Case of Garcia. Effects of a Pampero. Dust- 
Storms and Showers of Mud. The Natives fi-ee from Epide- 
mics, but liable to peculiar affections from the state of the 
atmosphere. Lockjaw of very common occurrence. The Small- 
,pox stopped by Vaccination. Introduced in 1805, and pre- 
served by an individual. Its first introduction amongst the 
Native Indians by General Rosas. Cases of Longevity, of 
frequent occurrence .,.....,,. Page 44 



CONTENTS. xxill 



CHAPTER VII. 



HISTORY OF THE SPANISH SETTLEMENTS ON THE COAST OF 
PATAGONIA. 

Little known of Patagonia till the appearance of Falkner s work in 
1774. It stimulates the Spanish Government to send out an 
expedition under Piedra in 1778, to form settlements upon the 
coast. He discovers the Bay of San Joseph's. Francisco 
Viedma forms a settlement on the River Negro. Antonio, his 
brother, explores the southern part of the coast, and forms another 
at San Julian's. His account of the Indians he found there. 
The New Settlements abandoned in 1783, with the exception of 
that on the River Negro. Villarino ascends that river, as far as 
the Cordillera opposite Valdivia. A dispute with the Arauca- 
nian Indians prevents his communication with the Spaniards of 
Chile, and obliges him to return. Piedra succeeds Viedma, 
attacks the Pampa Tribes, and is defeated. Don Ortiz de Rosas, 
father of the present Governor of Buenos Ayres, is taken pri- 
soner by them, and succeeds in bringing about a general paci- 
fication. Subsequent neglect of the settlement on the Rio 
Negro. Its population in 1825, and coasting-trade with Buenos 
Ayres Page 58 

CHAPTER VIII. 

SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES IN THE INTERIOR. 

Malaspina. Surveys the Shores .of the Rio de la Plata in 1789. 
Bauza maps the Road to Mendoza : De Souillac that to Cordova. 
Azara, and other Officers, in 1796, fix the positions of all the 
Forts and Towns in the Province of Buenos Ayres. Don Luis 
de la Cruz crosses the Pampas, from the frontiers of Concep- 
tion in Chile to Buenos Ayres, in 1806. Attempt at a new 
delineation of the Rivers of the Pampas from his Journal. His 
account of the Volcanic appearances along the Eastern Andes. 
Sulphur, Coal, and Salt found there, also Fossil Marine Re- 
mains. The Indians of Araucanian origin : Habits and Cus- 
toms of the Pehuenches . Page 96 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY. 
Ignorance of the Buenos Ayreans respecting the lands south of the 
Salado previously to their Independence. Colonel Garcia's ex- 
pedition to the Salt Lakes in 1810. The Government of Buenos 
Ayres endeavours to bring about an arrangement with the 
Indians for a new boundary. Their warlike demonstrations 
render futile this attempt. March of an army to the Tandil, 
and erection of a Fort there. Some account of that part of the 
country. The coast as far as Bahia Blanca examined, and ex- 
tension of the frontier-line as far as that point. The hostility of 
the Indians makes it necessary to carry the war into the heart 
of their Territories. General Rosas rescues from them 1500 
Christian captives. Detachments of his army occupy the Cho- 
leechel, and follow the courses of the River Negro and of the 
Colorado till in sight of the Cordillera Page 117 

CHAPTER X. 

GEOLOGY OF THE PAMPAS. 
Geological Features of the Southern compared with those of the 
Northern Shore of the Plata. The Pampa Formation, probably 
derived from the Alluvial Process now going on, as exhibited in 
the Beds of the Plata itself and other Rivers. - Fossil remains 
of land Animals found in it, above Marine Shells. Such 
Shells where met with, and of what Species. Mr. Bland's 
Theory of the Upheaval of the Pampas from the Sea, founded 
on the Deposits of Salt in them : — The presence of such Salt 
may be otherwise accounted for. Account of the Discovery of 
the Gigantic Fossil remains sent to England by the Author. — 

Page 163 

Additional Note on the Glyptodon, another fossil monster recently 
discovered in the Pampa formation Page 1786 

CHAPTER XI. 

OF THE RIVERS PARAGUAY:, PARANA, AND URUGUAY. 
Importance of the rivers of the United Provinces. The Paraguay 
and its tributaries. The Pilcomayo. The Vermejo. Soria's ex- 



^ 



CONTENTS. XXV 

pedition down it from Oran, proving it navigable thence to 
Assumption. Periodical inundations of the Parana, similar to 
those of the Nile. The Uruguay and its affluents. Surveys by 
the Commissioners appointed to determine the Boundaries laid 
down by the Treaty between Spain and Portugal of 1777. 
Original Maps obtained Page 179 

CHAPTER XII. 
THE LTTTORINE PROVINCES. 

SANTA FE ENTRE RIOS — CORRIENTES — THE OLD JESUIT 

MISSIONS PARAGUAY UNDER DR. FRANCIA. 

De Garay founds Santa Fe, and meets with Spaniards from Peru. 
His subsequent Deeds and Death. The Government of the 
Rio de la Plata separated from that of Paraguay, and Santa Fe 
annexed to Buenos Ayres. Its former prosperity, and great 
capabilities, especially for Steam Navigation. The Entre Bios 
' — constituted a Province in 1814, its Extent, Government, and 
Population — chiefly a grazing Country. Corrientes — its valu- 
able natural Productions — mistaken ideas of the people as to 
Foreign Trade. The Lake Ybera — Pigmies, Ants, Ant-Eaters, 
Locusts, and Beetles. The Missions now depopulated — their 
happy and flourishing state under the Jesuits. Paraguay — 
some Account of its former Prosperity and Trade, and the esta- 
blishment of the tyrannical rule of Dr. Francia . . Page 195 

CHAPTER XIII. 
THE CENTRAL PROVINCES. 

CORDOVA, LA RIOJA, SANTIAGO, TUCUMAN, CATAMARCA, 
SALTA. 

Cordova. Government. Pastoral Habits of the People. Produc- 
tions. La Rioja. Population, &c. Famatina Mines. Evils 
arising from the present subdivision of the Provincial Govern- 
ments. Santiago del Estero. The Sandy Desert or Tra- 
versia. Quichua Language. Productions, &c. The Salado 
navigable to the Parana. The Chaco. Mass of native Iron 



XXVI CONTENTS. 

found there. Theory of its Meteoric Origin questionable. Ac- 
count of the native Iron from Atacama. Tucuman. Delight- 
ful Climate. Mines — little worked. Richness of the Vegetation. 
Declaration of Independence of the Provinces made there in 
1816. Catamarca. Population, &c. Original Inhabitants — 
their long Wars with the Spaniards. Salta. Divisions, Popu- 
lation, Government, Climate, Rivers. The Vermejo, and its Af- 
fluents from Tarija and Jujuy. Valuable Productions of this 
Province. Labour of the Mataco Indians obtainable, and pre- 
ferable to that of Europeans in such Latitudes. Importance of 
inland Steam Navigation urged Page 238 

CHAPTER XIV. 
PROVINCES OF CUYO. 

SAN LUIS^ MENDOZA, SAN JUAN. 

The towns of Cuyo formerly attached to Cordova. Value of the old 
municipal institutions. San Luis, wretched state of the popu- 
lation. The miserable weakness of the Government, exposes the 
whole southern frontier of the Republic to the Indians. Acon- 
cagua seen from the town. Mines of Carolina. Account of a 
journey over the Pampas in a carriage. Mendoza, extent, 
rivers, artificial irrigation, productions. Mines not worth work- 
ing by English companies. Ancient Peruvian road. City of 
Mendoza, and salubrity of the Climate. San Juan. The pro- 
ductions similar to those of Mendoza, Wine, Brandy, and Corn- 
Quantity of Corn produced yearly. Mines of Jachal Character 
of the people. Passes across the Andes. Dr. Gillies' account of 
an excursion by those of the Planchon and Las Damas. Sin- 
gular animal found in the provinces of Cuyo named the Chlamy- 
phorus, described by Mr. Yarrell Page 294 

CHAPTER XV. 

TRADE. 

Advantages of the situation of Buenos Ayres in a commercial point 
of view. Amount of Imports into Buenos Ayres in peaceable 
times. From what Countries. Great proportion of the whole 
British Manufactures. Articles introduced from other parts of 



CONTENTS. XXvii 

the World. The Trade checked by the Brazilian War, and sub- 
sequent Civil Disturbances. Recovering since 1831. Propor- 
tion of it taken oflf by Monte Video since its independence. Com- 
parative view of Exports. Scarcity of Returns. Capabilities of 
the Country. Advantage of encouraging Foreigners. The Wool 
Trade becoming of importance owing to their exertions. Other 
useful productions which may be cultivated in the interior. Ac. 
count of the origin and increase of the Horses and Cattle in the 
Pampas Page 333 

CHAPTER XVI. 

PUBLIC DEBT. 

Origin of the Funded Debt of Buenos Ayres, Receipts and Expendi- 
ture from 1822 to 1825, during peace. Loan raised in England. 
War with Brazil, and stoppage of all Revenue from the Custom- 
house for three years. Pecuniary difficulties in consequence. 
The Provincial Bank of Buenos Ayres converted into a National 
one. The Government interferes with it, and, by forcing it to 
increase its issues, destroys its credit. Debt at the close of the 
war at the end of 1828. Hopes founded on the peace destroyed 
by the mutiny of the Army ; — deplorable consequences of that 
event. Depreciation of the Currency. Deficit in the Revenue, 
and increase of the Funded Debt: — its amount in 1834, and 
further increase in 1837. General Account of the Liabilities of 
the Government up to that year ;— increased by subsequent war 
with Bolivia, and French Blockade Page 374 

APPENDIX. 

No. 1. — Declaration of Independence of the United Provinces of 
South America, in 1816 Page 392 

No. 2.— Estimated Population of the Provinces 'of the Rio de la Plata, 
1836-7 Page 393 

No. 3. — Statistics of British Residents at Buenos Ayres, in 1831 — 

Page 394 

No. 4.— Treaty between Great Britain and the United Provinces of 
Rio de la Plata = . , , , , , Page 396 



XXVlll CONTENTS. 

No. 5.— Copy, in the Guarani language, of the Memorial addressed 
by the People of the Mission of San Luis, praying that the 
Jesuits might be allowed to remain with them. Dated 28th 
February, 1768 Page 404 

No. 6. — Meteorological Observations in Buenos Ayres during 1822 
and 1823 (from the RegistroEstadistico) . . . Page 406 

No. 7. — Some Fixed Points in the Provinces of Rio de la Plata 

Page 407 

No. 8.— Return of Foreign Shipping arrived at Buenos Ayres from 
1821 to 1837 inclusive Page 411 

No. 9. — A Statement of the Quantities and Declared Value of Bri- 
tish and Irish Produce and Manufactures exported from the 
United Kingdom to the States of the Rio de la Plata, in each 
year, from 1830 to 1837 (from Returns laid before Parliament) — 

Page 412 

No. 10. — Trade of Monte Video Page 414 

No. 11.— Comparative Value (declared) of British and Irish Produce 
and Manufactures exported from Great Britain to the River 
Plate, Mexico, Columbia, Chile, and Peru, from 1829 to 1837, 
and to Spain in the same years .... Page 415 



LIST OF MAPS AND PLATES. 



General Map. 

Plate of the Glyptodon . . . . . . . opposite Title page. 

Buenos Ayres besieged by the Querandis in 1535 „ page 19. 

Plan of the City „ „ 28. 

Plate of the Megatherium „ ,,178. 

„ of the Chlamyphorus „ „ 330. 



ERRATA. 



Page 13, last line but one, /or Embudo, read Umbii. 

„ 22 and 28,/or M. de Bourgainville, read M. de Bougainville. 
„ 121, third line from the bottom, /or the Guardia de Luxan, read 

Luxan. 
„ 236 and 2Z7,for M. Bompland, read M. Bonpland. 
„ 292, in note,/or £25,000 or £30,000, reac?£l2,000or£l5,000. 
,, 299, for San Carolina, read La Carolina. 
„ 303, for caretillo, read carretilla. 
„ 309, for Maiz, read Maize. 
„ 319, third line from the bottom,/or 75, read 75 feet. 



BUENOS AYRES 



PROVINCES OF LA PLATA. 



CHAPTER I. 



DIVISIONS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Extent, Divisions, and General Government of the Provinces of 
La Plata. Jurisdiction of the old Viceroyalties : — Necessity of 
dividing and sub-dividing such vast Governments : — Embarrass- 
ments arising out of this necessity. The backwardness in the 
Political organization of these Provinces, common to all the new 
Republics of South America ; and attributable to the same 
cause ; the Colonial system of the Mother Country. Mistake in 
comparing the condition of the Creoles with that of the British 
Colonists of North America. Natural ascendency of Military 
Power in the new States, Their progress in the last twenty-five W 
years compared with their previous condition. 4 |, 

The United Provinces of La Plata, 01% as ttey are 
sometimes called, the Argentine Republic, comprise, 
(with the exception of Paraguay and the Banda 
Oriental, which have become separate and indepen- 
dent states) the whole of that vast space lying 
between Brazil and the Cordillera of Chile and 
Peru^ and extending from the 22nd to the 41st 
degree of south latitude. 

The most southern settlement of the Buenos 

B 



2 PROVINCES OF LA PLATA. 

Ayreans as yet is the little town of Del Carmen, 
upon the river Negro. 

The native Indians are in undisturbed possession 
of all beyond, as far as Cape Horn. 

Generally speaking, the Republic may be said to 
be bounded on the north by Bolivia; on the west 
by Chile ; on the east by Paraguay, the Banda Ori- 
ental, and the Atlantic Ocean ; and on the south by 
the Indians of Patagonia. Altogether, it contains 
about 726,000 square miles English, with a popula- 
tion of from 600,000 to 700,000 inhabitants. 

This vast territory is now subdivided into thirteen 
Provinces, assuming to govern themselves, to a cer- 
tain degree, independently of each other; though, 
for all general and national purposes, confederated 
by conventional agreements. 

For want of a more defined National Executive, 
the Provincial Government of Buenos Ay res is tem- 
porarily charged with carrying on the business of the 
Union with foreign Powers, and with the manage 
ment of all matters appertaining to the Republic in 
common. The Executive Power of that Government, 
as constituted in 1821, is vested in the Governor, or 
Captain General*, as he is styled, aided by a Council 
of ministers appointed by himself — responsible to 

* Upon the election in 1835 of the present Governor Don Juan 
Manual Rosas, he refused, under the particular state of things at the 
time, to undertake the office, unless invested with extraordinary 
powers, which were in consequence granted hy the Junta without 
limitation for such time as circumstances might render necessary: — 
he was elected for five years. 



TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS. 6 

the junta or legislative Assembly of the Province by 
whom he is elected. The junta itself consists of 
forty-four deputies, one-half of whom are annually 
renewed by popular election. 

Geographically, these Provinces may be divided 
into three principal sections: — 1st, the Littorine, 
or eastern ; 2nd, the Central, or northern ; 3rd, 
those to the west of Buenos Ayres, commonly called 
the provinces of Cuyo. 

The Littorine Provinces are, Buenos Ayres, and 
Santa Fe, to the west, and Entre Rios and Cor- 
rientes to the east of the River Parana. Those in 
the Central section, on the high road to Peru, 
are Cordova, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman, and 
Salta ; to which may be added, Catamarca, and La 
Rioja. Those lying west of Buenos Ayres, and 
which formerly constituted the Intendency of Cuyo, 
are San Luis, Mendoza, and San Juan. 

All these together now form the confederation of 
the United Provinces of La Plata. 

Under the Spanish rule, the Viceroyalty of 
Buenos Ayres comprehended further, the provinces 
of Upper Peru, now called Bolivia ; as well as Para- 
guay, and the Banda Oriental : and immense as this 
jurisdiction appears for one government, it was but 
a portion separated from that of the old viceroys of 
Peru, whose nominal authority at one time extended 
from Guayaquil to Cape Horn, over 55 degrees of 
latitude, comprising almost every habitable climate 
under the sun ; innumerable nations, speaking 
i e*^ B 2 



4 PROVINCES OF LA PLATA. 

various languages, and every production which can 
minister to the wants of man. 

To Spain, it was a convenience and saving of 
expense to divide her American possessions into as 
few governments as possible ; and under her colonial 
system, without a hope of improving their social 
condition, their native industry discouraged, and the 
very fruits of the soil forbidden them, in order to 
ensure a sale for those of the mother country, it was 
of little consequence to the generality of the people 
by what viceroy they were ruled, or at what distance 
from them he resided. 

It became, however, a very different matter when 
that colonial system was overthrown, and succeeded 
by native governments of their own election. Then, 
all the many and various distinctions of climate, 
of language, of habits, and productions, burst into 
notice ; and as they separately put forward their 
claims to consideration, the difficulty, if not impos- 
sibility, became manifest, of adequately providing for 
them by the newly-constituted authorities, which, 
although succeeding to all the jurisdiction of the 
viceroys, repudiated in limine the principles of the 
system under which such discordant interests had 
hitherto been controlled and held together. 

The consequence has been, that most of the new 
states in their very infancy have been subjected 
to the embarrassing necessity of re-casting their 
governments, and dividing and subdividing their 
extensive territories, as the varying and distinct in- 



POLITICAL STATE. O 

terests of their several component parts have shown 
to be requisite for their due protection and develop- 
ment. Nothing has tended more to retard the orga- 
nization and improvement of their political insti- 
tutions than this necessity; and nowhere has it 
been more strikingly exemplified than in the widely- 
spread provinces of La Plata. In the first years of 
the struggle with the mother country, one common 
object, paramount to all other considerations, the 
complete establishment of their political indepen- 
dence, bound them together — perhaps I should more 
correctly say, prevented their separation ; — but the 
very circumstances of that struggle, and the vicissi- 
tudes of the war, which often for long periods to- 
gether cut off their communications with the capi- 
tal, and with each other ; obliging them to provide 
separately for their own temporary government and 
security, gave rise in many of them, especially those 
at a distance, to habits of more or less independence, 
which, as they imperceptibly acquired strength, pro- 
duced in some, as in Paraguay and Upper Peru, an 
entire separation from Buenos Ayres ; and in others 
such an assumption of the management of their own 
provincial aifairs, as ere long reduced the metropolitan 
government to a nullity. 

It is true that, up to 1820, the semblance of a 
Central Government was maintained at Buenos 
Ayres, but in that year the unpopularity of the 
measures of the Directory and of the National Con- 
gress led to its final dissolution, under circumstances 



6 PROVINCES OF LA PLATA. 

which precluded all hope of its re-establishment, 
and terminated in the system of federalism, which 
has ever since de facto subsisted. 

Experience has taught Buenos Ayres the ineffi- 
cacy of forcible measures to bring back the pro- 
vinces under her more immediate control ; and 
though congresses have been more than once con- 
voked for the purpose of establishing something 
more definite as to the form, at least, of their na- 
tional government, whether central or federal, indi- 
vidual and local interests have always prevailed in 
thwarting such an arrangement ; and the probability 
now is, that for a long time to come the national 
oro-anization of this State will be limited to the 
slender bonds of voluntary confederation, which at 
present constitute the soi-disant union of the pro- 
vinces, not only with each other, but with their old 
metropolis, Buenos Ayres. 

It is not my purpose here to enter into the history 
of the domestic troubles and civil dissensions which 
brought about this state of things in the new re- 
public : it is an unsatisfactory, and to most of my 
readers would be a very unintelligible, narrative. 
Suffice it to say, that whilst the political import- 
ance of Buenos Ayres has been apparently not a 
little diminished ; on the other hand, it may be ques- 
tioned if the provinces have reaped any substantial 
advantage by shaking off their immediate depend- 
ence upon the metropolis. Most of them have 
suffered all the calamitous consequences of party 



POLITICAL STATE. i 

struggles for power, and have fallen under the arbi- 
trary rule of the military chiefs, who, in turn, have 
either by fair means or foul obtained the ascend- 
ency; and if in some of them the semblance of 
a representative junta has been setup in imitation 
of that of Buenos Ayres, it will be found, I believe, 
that such assemblies have, in most instances, proved 
little more than an occasional convocation of the 
partisans of the governor for the time being, much 
more likely to confirm than to control his despotic 

sway. 

The present political state of the provinces of La 
Plata is certainly very different from what was ex- 
pected by the generality of those who originally 
took an interest in the fate of these new countries. 
It is, however, a state of things not confined to this 
republic; we shall find, more or less, the same 
scenes ; the same violent party struggles, the same 
continual changes of government ; the same appa- 
rent incapacity for arriving at anything like a settled 
political organization in almost every one of the 
several independent states into which the old posses- 
sions of Spain on the New Continent have resolved 
themselves; and this under circumstances, to all 
appearance, the most dissimilar with regard to the 
locality, climate, soil, language, wants, and phy- 
sical condition of the inhabitants ; with no one com- 
mon element, in fact, in their composition, save their 
having all been brought up in, and habituated to, 



8 PROVINCES OF LA PLATA. 

the same colonial system of the mother country. 
What, then, is the conclusion we must draw from 
this fact ? Is it not evident that it was that 
colonial system which, wherever applied, unfitted 
the people for a state of independence, and left them 
worse than helpless when thrown upon their own 
resources ? 

Well might Spain urge upon other nations, as 
an argument against the recognition of those coun- 
tries, that the South Americans were unfit for a 
state of independence. She knew the full extent 
of moral degradation to which her own policy had 
reduced them ; but it was futile to allege it, when 
it had become manifest to all the world that her own 
power to reduce them again to subjection was gone 
for ever, and that the people of South America had 
not only achieved their complete independence, but 
were resolved and fully able to maintain it. The 
notoriety of those facts left no alternative to foreign 
governments whose subjects had any real interest in 
the question, whatever might be the speculative 
opinions of some parties as to the eventual prospects 
of the New States. 

In this country our ignorance of the real con- 
dition of the people of South America naturally led 
us to look back to what had taken place in our own 
North American colonies, and with but little dis- 
crimination perhaps, to anticipate the same resuhs, 
whereas nothing in reality could be more dissimilar 



POLITICAL STATE. 9 

than the circumstances of the colonial subjects of 
Great Britain and Spain when their political eman- 
cipation took place. 

In the British colonies all the foundations of good 
government were already laid : the principles of 
civil administration were perfectly understood, and 
the transition was almost imperceptible. 

On the other hand, in the Spanish colonies the 
whole policy, as well as the power of the mother 
country, seems to have been based on perpetuating 
the servile state and ignorance of the natives: 
branded as an inferior race, they were systematically 
excluded from all share in the government, from 
commerce, and every other pursuit which might tend 
to the development of native talent or industry. The 
very history of their own unfortunate country was 
forbidden them, no doubt lest it should open their 
eyes to the reality of their own debased condition. 

When the struggle came, the question of their 
independence was soon settled irrevocably; but as 
to the elements for the construction at once of any- 
thing like a good government of their own, they 
certainly did not exist. 

Under these circumstances, what was perfectly 
natural took place. In the absence of any other 
real power, that of military command, which had 
grown out of the war, obtained an ascendency, the 
influence of which in all the New States became 
soon apparent. They fell, in fact, all of them more 
or less under military despotism. The people 



10 PROVINCES OF LA PLATA. 

dazzled with the victories and martial achievements 
of their leaders, imperceptibly passed from one yoke 
to another. 

It is true that national Congresses and legislative 
Assemblies were everywhere convoked ; but, gene- 
rally aiming at more than was practicable or com- 
patible with their circumstances, they in most 
instances failed, and by their failure rather con- 
firmed the absolute power of the military chiefs. 
They, however, abolished the slave-trade, put an 
end to the forced service of the mita^ so grievous 
to the Indians, and nominally sanctioned more or 
less the liberty of the press, — measures which gained 
them popularity and support amongst men of liberal 
principles in Europe, who fancied they saw in them 
expressions of public opinion, and evidences of a fit- 
ness amongst the people at large for free institu- 
tions ; but this was an error. 

The people of South America, with the Laws of 
the Indies still hanging about their necks, shouted 
indeed with their leaders, " Independence and Li- 
berty," and gallantly fought for and established the 
first ; but as to liberty, in our sense of the word at 
least, they knew very little about it:^ — how could 
they? 

They have yet practically to learn that true liberty 
in a civilized state of society can only really exist 
where the powers of the ruling authorities are duly 
defined and balanced ; and where the laws — not the 
colonial laws of Old Spain — are so administered as to 



POLITICAL STATE. 11 

ensure to every citizen a prompt redress for wrongs, 
entire personal security, and the right of freely ex- 
pressing his political opinions. The working of 
such laws makes men habitually free and fit for the 
enjoyment of free institutions. But such a state of 
things is not brought about in a day or in a gene- 
ration, nor can it be produced by any parchment 
constitution, however perfect in theory. The expe- 
riment has been tried of late years in some of the 
oldest states of Europe, and has invariably failed. 
Is it then reasonable that we should expect it to be 
more successful in such infant states as these new 
republics ? Time^— and we, of all people in the 
world, ought best to know how long a time — is re- 
quisite to bring such good fruit to maturity. 

Education, the press, a daily intercourse with the 
rest of the world, and experience not the less valu- 
able because dearly bought, are all tending gradually 
to enlighten the inhabitants of these new countries, 
and to prepare them for their future destinies. And, 
although from a variety of causes, their advancement 
may appear slow, and their present state fall far short 
of what has been expected of them, the truth is, 
they have made immense progress, compared with 
their old condition under the colonial yoke of Spain ; 
— and especially, I will say so, of Buenos Ayres. 



12 



CHAPTER II. 



RIVER PLATE. 



The River Plate— why so called. Its immensity. Arrival off 
Buenos Ayres. Passengers carted on shore. Want of a better 
landing-place, for goods especially. Navigation of the River 
not so perilous as was supposed in former times. 

The river Plate, or La Plata, was originally named 
after De Solis, who j&rst entered it in 1515. Some 
years afterwards, Sebastian Cabot, ascending it above 
its junction with the Parana, found silver ornaments 
amongst the natives ; and thence believing, or de- 
siring to induce others to believe, that that precious 
metal abounded on its shores, he gave it the false 
appellation by which it has ever since been known. 

It is a singular coincidence, that thus the two 
mightiest rivers of the South American continent, 
indeed two of the most remarkable rivers of the 
world, the Plata, and the Amazons, should derive 
their names from fictions, rather than from those 
brave adventurers who first made them known, and 
to whom the honour was the more justly due ; as 
both of them, Orellana, as well as De Solis, lost 
their lives in the prosecution of those particular 
discoveries. 

But one feeling takes possession of the stranger 



RIVER PLATE. 13 

on his arrival off this wonderful river — that of 
amazement at the immensity of its extent ; a hundred 
miles before he enters it, he may have seen its turbid 
current^ and had to struggle with its influence in 
the ocean itself*. At its mouth, from Cape St. 
Mary's to Cape St. Antonio^ its width is 170 miles. 
Farther up, between Santa Lucia, near Monte 
Video, and the point of Las Piedras on its southern 
bank, within which its waters are generally fresh, 
it is double f the distance across from Dover to 
Calais. 

But for that positive freshness, the stranger can 
hardly credit that he is not still at sea. He has 
yet to sail up it nearly two hundred miles ere he 
reaches the anchorage off Buenos Ayres, and then, 
at the end of his voyage, if the ship be large J, he 
will probably find it difficult to make out the land. 

It is only from the pozos, or inner roads, that the 
city becomes visible in its full extent, ranging along 
a slightly elevated ridge, which bounds the river. 
The towers of the churches, and here and there a 
solitary Umbii tree, alone break an outline almost 
as level as the horizon of the river itself. There is no 

* Kotzebue says 200. — " In the parallel of the Rio de la Plata, 
although 200 miles from land, we were daily carried by the current 
thirty -nine miles out of our course ; so great is the influence of this 
mighty river." — Kotzebue's Voyage round the World, 1823 — 26. 

t The distance between Point Piedras and Santa Lucia Point is 
fifty-three miles. 

X Vessels drawing more than sixteen feet water seldom get nearer 
than seven or eight miles. 



14 RIVER PLATE. 

back-ground to the picture, no mountains, no trees ; 
one vast continuous plain beyond extends for nearly 
1000 miles unbroken to the Cordillera of Chile. 

Unless the weather be perfectly settled, of which 
the barometer is the best index, the landing is not 
unattended with danger. I have known many a boat 
lost in crossing the bar or bank which lies between 
the outer and inner roads *. Nor is the bank the 
only danger : thick fogs at times come on, suddenly 
enveloping land and water in total darkness without 
the slightest previous indication ; in such a dilemma, 
if a boat be caught without the means of anchoring, 
the chances are that she may be carried down the 
river by the currents, and the people half-starved 
before they are picked up or can find the land again. 

But supposing these dangers passed, nothing can 
be more inconvenient or strikingly characteristic of 
the country than the actual landing. A ship's boat 
has seldom water enough to run fairly on shore, and, 
or arriving within forty or fifty yards of it, is beset 
by carts, always on the watch for passengers, the 
whole turn-out of which I defy any other people in 
the world to produce anything at all approaching. 

On the broad flat axle of a gigantic pair of 
wheels, seven or eight feet high, a sort of platform 
is fixed of half a dozen boards, two or three inches 

* In former times the commanders of our men-of-war established 
a good rule, that " no boat should go on shore without its anchor, and 
none leave it after sunset ;'' which, if attended to by our merchant- 
men, might prevent many a calamitous accident. 



RIVER PLATE. 15 

apart, letting in the wet at every splash of the water 
beneath ; the ends are open — a rude hurdle forms the 
side, and a short strong pole from the axle completes 
the vehicle ; to this unwieldy machine the horse is 
simply attached by a ring at the end of the pole, 
fastened to the girth or surcingle, round which his 
rider has the power of turning him as on a pivot, 
and of either drawing or pushing the machine along 
like a wheelbarrow, as may be momentarily most 
convenient : — in this manner, for the first time in my 
life, I saw the cart fairly before the horse : — in 
Europe we laugh at the idea ; in South America 
nothing is more common than the reality. 

The wild and savage appearance of the tawny 
drivers of these carts, half naked, shouting and 
screaming and jostling one another, and flogging 
their miserable jaded beasts through the water, as if 
to show the little value attached to the brute creation 
in these countries, is enough to startle a stranger 
on his first arrival, and induce him for a moment to 
doubt whether he be really landing in a Christian 
country. It is a new and a strange specimen of 
human kind, little calculated to create a favourable 
first impression. 

In old times there was a sort of mole, such as it 
was, which ran some way into the river, and obviated 
a part, at least, of these inconveniences, but it was 
either washed or blown down some years ago, and 
the people have been too indolent, or too busy ever 
since to set about replacing it ; not, however, for 



16 RIVER PLATE. 

want of plans for its reconstruction, amongst which 
one for a chain-pier, some years ago submitted to the 
government, appeared particularly suited to the local- 
ity ;_wliy it was not adopted, I never heard, but it 
is no credit to the natives that something of the sort 
has not long since been built. Nothing is more 
wanted, or more deserving the primary attention of 
the authorities, whilst I believe no work they could 
undertake would more certainly repay its expenses, 
for the convenience to passengers is a small consi- 
deration compared with the value which any com- 
modious landing-place for merchandise at Buenos 
Ay res would be of to the trade. The loss and 
damage yearly sustained by the present mode of 
carrying goods on sbore, in the rude carts I have 
described, is incalculable, and highly detrimental to 
the port in a commercial point of view. 

With respect to the passage up the river, though 
somewhat intricate, it is by no means so perilous as 
it was long believed to be, probably because the com- 
mercial shipping from Spain rarely ascended higher 
than Monte Video, to whicb Port the country produce 
from Buenos Ay res and the interior provinces was 
for the most part sent down in small craft for ship- 
ment to Europe. 

In 1789 Malaspina commenced the elaborate sur- 
vey of the river, afterwards completed by Oyarvide, 
and still further corrected by the observations of Cap- 
tains Beaufort and Hey wood, of the British navy, the 
latter of whom, also, published particulars direc- 



RIVER PLATE. 17 

tions for the navigation of the several channels 
between the banks. With his chart and sailing* 
directions, and due attention to the soundings and 
currents, there is now little risk ; and that little 
would be still further diminished by the establish- 
ment, long projected, of a floating light off the tail 
of the Ortiz bank, and of two or three leading land- 
marks opposite to the Chico channel. 

The most dangerous parts of the river are buoyed, 
and licensed pilots ply off its mouth to take vessels 
either into the harbour of Monte Video, or up to 
Buenos Ayres. 

Ships drawing fifteen or sixteen feet water 
may run freely up to the anchorage off that city. 
Foreign vessels do not go higher, Buenos Ayres 
being at present the only port of entry; indeed, 
were it otherwise, and the navigation of the upper 
parts of the river thrown open, and declared free, 
as some of the provinces have at times wished, it is 
not likely that European shipping would ever avail 
themselves of it, seeing that the passage up from 
Buenos Ayres to Corrientes, besides the additional 
risk, would at least occupy as much time as the 
whole voyage out from France or England. 

* They will be found in Purdy's " Sailing Directory, for the South 
Atlantic Ocean,'' published by Laurie, 1837, together with those of 
M. Barral of the French navy, the results of a still more recent survey 
of th^ River. 



18 



CHAPTER III. 

CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

First Impressions of Buenos Ayres. Date of the Foundation, and 
insignificance of the Colony for a long period. Contraband 
Trade carried on through it a grievance to the Mother Country. 
Erected into a distinct Viceroy alty in 1776, and its trade opened 
in consequence of the modified system adopted by Spain about 
the same time. The advantages of this to Buenos Ayres. 

If my first feelings on being carted ashore at 
Buenos Ayres in the uncouth manner I have de- 
scribed, were none of the most agreeable, they soon 
passed off, and gave vi^ay to different impressions. 
As I walked up to the lodgings which had been 
prepared for me, I was struck with the regularity of 
the streets and buildings, the appearance of the 
churches, the general cheerfulness of the white- 
stuccoed houses, and especially with the independent 
contented air of the people — -a striking contrast to the 
wretched beggary and slave population, of which I 
had lately seen so much at Rio de Janeiro. 

The date of the foundation of this city is com- 
paratively recent, and long subsequent to the arrival 
of the first discoverers of the country, to whom 
neither the aspect of the Pampas, nor the warhke 
disposition of the Querandis, the then inhabitants, 
appear to have offered any attractions. Their search 
was for the land of gold and silver, which was evi- 







I I 

I I 



^^1 






'^ 



I I 



^1 



CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 19 

dently not this : in quest of those precious metals 
they ascended the river, and for the most part 
settled in the more inviting regions of Paraguay ; 
hoping from thence to open an easy communication 
with the rich countries of Peru. 

In 1535 the Adelantado, Don Pedro de Men- 
doza, on his way to Paraguay with one of the most 
brilliant expeditions ever equipped in Spain for 
South America, landed to recruit his people near the 
spot where Buenos Ayres now stands, and caused 
a fort to be built there for the first time, in which 
he left what he supposed a sufficient garrison for its 
defence ; but he was mistaken — the warlike natives 
as soon as he was gone drove out the Spanish 
soldiers, and remained for nearly another half-cen- 
tury in undisturbed possession of all that part of 
the country.* 

It was not till the year 1580 that the famous 
Don Juan de Garay, then in Paraguay, determined 
once more to endeavour to form a permanent settle- 
ment in the same neighbourhood. In this attempt 
the Spaniards as before met with a most obstinate 
resistance on the part of the natives, who attacked 
them armed with their formidable slings (the bolas 
now used by the gauchos) and with bows and arrows, 
to which they tied burning matches, which set fire not 
only to their tents but to their shipping. De Garay 's 

* See annexed plate, copied from the original in the account pub- 
lished by Ulric Schmidel, a volunteer under Mendoza, and one of the 
garrison besieged by the Querandis. 

c2 



20 CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

little band, which only consisted of sixty men-at- 
arms, was at first well nigh overwlielmed by the 
number of the savages who poured down upon them 
bravely fighting for their lands. On both sides pro- 
digies of individual valour are related. The death, 
however, of the Cacique, who commanded in chief, 
seems to have decided the battle ; the Indians, seeing 
him fall, fled, followed by the victors till they were 
weary of killing them : and such was the slaughter 
that to this day the scene of the engagement is called 
La Matanza, or ^' the Killing Ground.'* 

After this victory De Garay took formal posses- 
sion of the country in the King of Spain's name, and 
founded the present city of Buenos Ayres — a.d. 
1580. 

For two centuries the settlement thus planted 
languished in insignificance, abandoned to its own 
resources, and the mother country, to all appear- 
ance, fearing rather than desiring its aggrandise- 
ment : nor was this without cause ; — Spain, in fact, 
lost so immensely by the contraband trade carried 
on from Peru, through the river Plate, that she 
became accustomed to regard with something more 
than indifference a possession which in consequence 
of her own prohibitory and restrictive system, was 
totally unproductive to her, whilst the facilities it 
offered for illicit trading made it a fruitful source of 
grievance and of disputes with other nations. 

The extent, however, of these evils in the course 
of time produced their own remedy. The King of 



CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 21 

Spain at last discovered that a Viceroy at Lima 
could not put down the smugglers in the river 
Plate, or prevent the continual territorial encroach- 
ments of the Portuguese in the same quarter. 

The necessity had long been evident of esta- 
blishing a separate and independent authority on 
the spot where its vigilance was in daily request, and 
in 1776 Buenos Ayres was made the seat of a new 
Viceroyalty, and separated from the government of 
Peru. 

It was about that time, also, that Spain made 
most important changes in her colonial system. The 
exclusive and pernicious monopoly of the whole 
trade of South America, till then possessed by the 
merchants of Seville and Cadiz, was put an end to, 
and a comparatively free intercourse was, for the first 
time, permitted with many ports in the new world, 
with which till then it was death to communicate. 
Buenos Ayres reaped a large share of the advan- 
tages of this alteration in the commercial views and 
policy of the mother country ; and from a nest of 
smugglers became one of the first trading cities in 
Spanish America. The rapid increase of her popu- 
lation, under these new circumstances, is worth 
notice. 



22 



CHAPTER IV. 



POPULATION OF BUENOS AYRES. 

Statistics of the Population. Its great increase in the last fifty 
years. Castes into which it was formerly divided now dis- 
appearing. Numbers of Foreigners established there, especially 
British. Their influence on the habits of the Natives. The 
Ladies of Buenos Ayres ; the Men and their occupations. 

In the year 1767, when M. de Bougainville visited 
Buenos Ayres, he tells us that the number of the 
inhabitants did not exceed 20,000. 

In 1778, the year in which the port was partially 
thrown open under the free-trade regulations of 
Spain, as they were called, a census was taken, by 
which it appears that the inhabitants of the city and 
of its campaiia, or country jurisdiction, amounted to 
37,679 souls, of which 24,205 belonged to the city, 
12,925 to the country, and 549 were members of 
religious communities ; divided as follows, viz. : — 



Colour. 


City. 


Country. 1 


Males. 


Females, 


Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


1, Spaniards andl 

Creoles . / 

2, Indians 

3, Mestizoes . . 

4, Mulattoes 

5, Negroes . . 

Total . . 


7,821 

276 

289 

1,366 

1,933 


7,898 

268 

385 
1,787 

2,182 


15,719 

544 

674 

3,153 

4,115 


5,008 
841 

571 
351 


4,724 
702 

449 
279 


9,732 
1,543 

1*020 
630 


11,685 


12,520 


24,205 


6,761 


6,154 


12,925 


Populati 
Populati 
Ecclesias 


Summary. 

on of the city .... 
on of the country 
tical establishments . 


24,205 

12,925 

549 






To 


tal 


• 


• 


37,679 





POPULATION. 23 

To these numbers, however, some, and not an 
inconsiderable, addition should be made for short 
returns, particularly from the country districts ; for, 
let it be borne in mind, in examining all such official 
estimates of the population of the Spanish colonies, 
that, as any attempt on the part, of the authorities to 
take a census was sure to be regarded as the fore- 
runner of some new exaction for the service of the 
mother country, so it was as certain to be evaded, 
especially by the lower orders of the people, and, 
in proportion, to fall short of the reality. In this 
census it does not appear that the military were 
included, but in that year, or the preceding one, no 
less than 10,000 men were sent out from Spain 
under the command of the Viceroy Cevallos, in 
addition to the ordinary forces, to carry on the war 
with the Portuguese : a great part of them it may be 
assumed never returned, and should therefore be 
added to the numbers of the colonists. Making, 
then, a fair allowance for these deficiencies in the 
census for 1 778, the population at that time pro- 
bably did not fall short of 50,000 souls ; and this 
calculation may be rather under than over the 
truth. 

In 1789, ten years afterwards. Helms, the Ger- 
man traveller, on his way to Peru, was told by the 
Viceroy at Buenos Ayres that the city contained 
between 24,000 and 30,000 inhabitants, a calcula- 
tion probably founded on the census of 1778, with 
his own vague notion of the probable increase upon 



24 POPULATION 

it in the interim. No mention is made by him of 
the population of the country. 

In 1795 the Viceroy Aredondo, on delivering 
up the government to his successor, took occasion 
to allude to the great increase which had taken 
place in the population since the opening of the 
trade, and spoke of it as then amounting altogether 
to nearly 60,000 souls. 

In 1800 Azara calculated it to be 71,668, estimat- 
ing 40,000 for the city, and 31,668 for the country- 
towns and villages within its jurisdiction — a great 
increase since 1778, compared with the past, which 
can only be ascribed to the more liberal policy 
adopted by Spain, and to the extraordinary impulse 
thereby given to the colony. This, however, was 
but an indication of the further results to be antici- 
pated from the removal of those remaining restric- 
tions which still grievously hampered the energies of 
the community, and retarded the development of the 
capabilities of a country formed by nature to be a 
great commercial emporium. The British invasions 
in 1806 and 1807 awakened the Buenos Ayreans to 
a sense of their own political importance, and the sub- 
sequent struggle with the mother country for their 
independence opened their ports to all the world ; 
and in nothing are the consequences more strikingly 
exemplified than in the extraordinary increase which 
since that epoch has taken place in the population, 
notwithstanding all the waste of war in all its forms, 
foreign and civil, by land and by sea. 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 



25 



The following Tables of the Marriages, Births, 
and Deaths in the city and country districts of the 
province for 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825, are taken 
from data published under the authority of the Go- 
vernment ; and the calculations founded upon them 
give the most correct idea to be procured of the 
extent of the population up to the close of 1825 : — 



26 



POPULATION 



No. ].— MARRIAGES. 


1. Whites . . . 

2. Free Coloured 1 

People j 

3. Slaves . . . 

Total . 


City. 


Country. 


1822. 


1823. 


1824. 


1825. 


1822. 


1823. 


1824. 


1825. 


331 
120 
130 


366 

88 

112 


357 
119 
107 


393 

135 

71 


602 
81 
40 


547 
86 
50 


513 
81 

48 


549 
62 
41 


581 


566 


583 


599 


723 


683 


642 


652 


No. 2.— BAPTISMS, | 


1. Whites . . . 

2. People of Colour 

Total . 


City. 


Country. 


1822. 


1823. 


1824. 

2163 

835 


1825. 


1822. 


1823. 


1824. 


1825. 

2735 
399 


1962 

748 

2710 


2110 

816 


2102 
793 


2703 
498 


2672 
532 


2534 

498 


2926 


2998 


2895 


3201 


3204 


3032 


3134 


No. 3.— DEATHS. | 


1. Whites . . . 

2. Free Coloured \ 
People . . j 

3. Slaves . . . 

Total 


City. 


Country. 


1822. 

1448 
591 
114 

2153 


1823 

1927 
846 
145 


1824. 


1825. 


1822. 


1823. 


1824. 


1825. 


1498 
714 
114 


1812 

895 

98 


1463 

350 

52 


1801 

364 

74 


1446 

333 

90 


1392 

252 

47 


2918 


2326 


■2805 


1865 


2239 


1869 


1691 


Summary. 


Total Marriages 
„ Baptisms 
„ Deaths . 


Deaths 


. 


1822. 


1823. 


1824. 


1825. 


1305 
5911 
4018 


1249 
6130 
5157 


1225 
6030 
4195 


1251 
6029 
4496 


Excess of Births over 


1893 


973 


1835 


1533 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 27 

Thus it appears that the proportion of births to 
deaths is in the ratio of about four to three ; amongst 
the coloured population, the births are very little 
more than equal to the deaths ; in the city they fall 
much short of them ; the increase, therefore, is on 
the white stock. The births to the marriages appear 
to be as nearly five to one. 

The Statistical Register of Buenos Ayres assumes 
the annual measure of mortality to be one in thirty- 
two in the city, and one in forty in the country ; and, 
taking the average of the results for 1822 and 1823, 
arrives at the conclusion that the inhabitants of the 
city amounted, at the commencement of 1824, to 
81,136, and those of the country to 82,080, making in 
all a population of 163,216. If we calculate, according 
to the same rule, the mean of the results of the bills of 
mortality for the four years ending with 1825, it will 
give us a population for the city of 81,616 persons, 
and for the country districts of 76,640, in all of 
158,256, at the close of 1825 : about 5000 less than 
the estimate made in the Register two years before, 
the falling off being in the country : but this is at 
once accounted for by the recruiting which took 
place in 1825 for the war with Brazil, which must 
have taken off a much larger number : allowing for 
which, I think we may fairly assume that the total 
population of the city and province of Buenos Ayres 
at the close of that year was not far short of 165,000 
souls, being, as nearly as we have the means of cal- 
culating, about double what it was twenty years 



28 POPULATION 

before. At the time I am writing, ten years after- 
wards, I have not a doubt that it amounts to nearly 
200,000*. 

As an additional exemplification of the increase 
which has taken place in the population since the 
time of M. de Bougainville, I annex a plan of the 
city, showing what were its limits in his time, and 
what has been added since. 

From the numbers let us turn to the general com- 
position of this population. 

The census of 1778 divided it into five castes. 

1. The Spaniards and their descendants born in 
America, generally known as Creoles. 

2. The native Indians. 

3. The Mestizoes — offspring of the Spaniard and 
Indian. 

4. The Mulattoes — offspring of the Spaniard and 
Negro. 

5. The Negroes or Africans born. 

Of these five castes, however, the Indians and 
their Mestizo offspring formed a very small and in- 
significant proportion, and can only be regarded as 
accidentally domiciliated at Buenos Ayres in conse- 
quence of its being at that time the principal 
channel of communication between Peru, their 
proper soil, and Spain. 

* By a return for 1 836, it appears that in the City in that year. 
The Marriages were 412 

Baptisms 3211 

Deaths 2785 exclusive of those in the 

hospitals, I have no return from the Country. 



o 



3 § 

p. ^ 



w tr 



EiLtreBa.os 
SoIls 

Zeb alios 
Lore a 
S^Jo.se 



SaifUelEsteio 



^ 9 

ro 



Q 



Salta 



Lroia 



^-^ -I 



DeLl)\jLerLOrd( 
Tacuary; . ' 
LasPiedras 
D e CKacaliica ■ 



DeLPera 
Univer'sic 
Reconqui 
B alcarce 




y 

D 

□ L 



Q 



DC 



snnnnn 



BUEFOS Al 



T 3= O ai O tn Ji 

^ 3 k .» I g S 



i 1 n 






mm ^-^^^^^^ 



SaifddE«3i 







DDuuuuuLjLj^au ,::i 

□ u □ a o a □ G LJ t:^ til u g.H. .V.,', 

ps, n n rn r~i n rfffr i r i i-'A m rn ^ '' " 



7^, City of 

BlJEi^OS AYRES. 






OF BUENOS AYRES. 29 

Theoriginal Indians of Buenos Ayres were a hostile 
race, who would hold no intercourse with their con- 
querors. No mixture, therefore, of Spanish and native 
blood took place in that particular part of South 
America, which could produce a distinct caste, as in 
the Upper Provinces and in Peru, where the more 
peaceable and domesticated inhabitants continue to the 
present day to constitute the main stock of the popu- 
lation. In those parts we see a striking difference 
in the people ; the further we advance into the inte- 
rior, the more scarce become the white in proportion 
to the coloured inhabitants. The aboriginal Indian 
blood decidedly predominates in the Mestizo castes, 
whilst the negro and his Mulatto descendants, so 
common on the coast, are there almost unknown. 
The cause of this is easily explained ; for a long 
period very few European women reached the inte- 
rior of America: the Spaniards, therefore, who 
settled there, were under the necessity of mixing 
with the natives, from which connexion has arisen 
that numerous race, the Mestizoes, which forms so 
large a part of the present population of those coun- 
tries. The same difficulty in transporting their 
women from Europe did not occur with respect to 
Buenos Ayres ; there the European stock was easily 
kept up, though for a long period it increased but 
slowly ; and, but for the adventitious circumstance of 
its having been for some years a depot for the slave- 
trade, under the Asiento Treaties, the population of 
Buenos Ayres would have been nearly free from 



30 POPULATION 

any admixture rofi<5olou»'iwhatever. As it is, it 
appears that the coloured people of all castes formed 
about a third of the whole in 17t8xioit ^i^ii&i 

In the Statistical Tables for 1822—1825, it will 
be seen that the Indian and Mestizo no longer 
appear : the division made is simply into the white 
and the coloured population ; and,' although the latter 

dt i^^still at that time amounted to n^rly a fourth part of 
the whole, it had ceased to increase. In the four 

iy years the births barely exceeded the deaths, and 
whilst the proportion of deaths amongst the coloured 
people increased, there was a striking falling off in 

i the number of their marriages and births, even from 
1822 to 1825. The slave-trade has, in fact, been 

j^9iprohibited since 1 8 1 3, by a decree of the Constituent 
Assembly, consequently any further supply from the 
Negro stock has ceased, and it cannot be very long 
ere all trace of its having ever existed must be 
merged in the rapid increase of the whites— a result 
which will be greatly accelerated by the introduction 
of fresh settlers from Europe, who are daily arriving 

1 and domiciliating themselves in the new republic. 
Hft-iOf the extent of this some notion nlay be formed 

o when I state that the number of foreigners, who, up 
to 1832, had fixed themselves in the city and pro- 
vinde of Buenos Ayres, amounted, with their wives 
and children, to no less than fi-om 15,000 to 20,000 
persons. Of these about two-thirds were British 
and French, in about equal proportions ; the re- 
mainder was made up of Italians, Germans, and 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 31 

people of other countries, not the least numerous of 
whom were emigrants from the United States, and 
especially from New York. 

As it may interest some of my readers to know 
what classes of our countrymen find employment at 
Buenos Ayres, I have given in the Appendix an 
account of them, as taken from a register which I 
established on my own arrival there, together with 
the marriages, births, and deaths amongst them, as 
far as they could be learned for the period stated : to 
these I have further added a copy of the Treaty 
I concluded with the Government of Buenos Ayres, 
in 1825, securing to His Majesty's subjects in that 
country many important privileges, and amongst the 
rest the free exercise of their own religion : — a great 
object to so numerous a community : — I had subse- 
quently the satisfaction of seeing it fully carried out 
by the erection of an English church, capable of 
containing 1000 persons, towards which the Buenos 
Ayrean Government itself contributed, by giving 
a valuable plot of ground for the purpose : — His 
Majesty's Government appointed the chaplain, and 
regularly defrays one-half of the annual expense, 
the British residents paying the remainder. A 
Presbyterian chapel has been since built in virtue 
of the same privilege by the Scotch part of the com- 
munity ; and for the Catholics, an Irish priest is 
allowed to do duty in one of the national churches. 

In a population so intermixed, and in such daily 



32 POPULATION 

communication with the people of other countries, it 
is not surprising that national peculiarities should 
have very nearly disappeared. Thus the men of the 
better classes in Buenos Ayres are hardly to be dis- 
tinguished in their dress from the French and Eng- 
lish merchants who have fixed themselves amongst 
them, whilst the ladies vie with each other in imi- 
tating the last fashions from Paris: it is only in 
their out-door costume that any difference is appa- 
rent ; then the more becoming mantilla and shawl 
thrown over the head and shoulders supersede the 
European bonnet and pehsse. Some of them are 
very beautiful, and their polite and obliging manners, 
especially to strangers, render them doubly attractive. 
Our countrymen have formed many matrimonial 
connexions with them, which has contributed, no 
doubt, to the good feeling with which they are so 
generally regarded by the natives. 

' Education, it is true, has not as yet made great 
progress amongst them, but in this improvement is 
taking place, and if the young ladies of Buenos 
Ayres do not study history and geography, they are 
adepts in many pleasing accomplishments ; they 
dance with great grace, and sing and play very 
prettily ; the piano-forte, indeed, is a constant resource 
morning as well as evening in every respectable 
house. 

Amongst the men there are native poets, whose 
productions do honour to the Spanish language. A 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 33 

collection of them, called La Lira Argentina, was 
printed in 1823, which is well worth the notice of 
all lovers of Spanish verse. But the men have more 
advantages as respects education than the ladies : 
in their schools and universities they are now very 
fairly grounded in most branches of general know- 
ledge, and of late years it has been much the custom 
amongst the better families to send their sons to 
Europe to complete their studies. 

I should say of them in general that they are ob- 
serving and intelligent, and extremely desirous to 
improve themselves. 

Their ordinary habits are certainly a good deal 
influenced by climate ; I cannot speak of them as 
an industrious people, and yet it is rare to see a 
man v/ho has not some nominal occupation. 

From the number of doctores, a stranger might 
suppose that all the upper classes were lawyers or 
physicians. This is not exactly the case ; but, as that 
degree serves to mark the man who has received a 
liberal education, it is generally taken by those who 
pass through the schools, without particular refer- 
ence to their future calling. Thus I have known 
doctores in all pursuits — ministers of state, employes 
of all sorts, clerks in public offices, military officers, 
and merchants ; all attaching to it the same import- 
ance as we do, perhaps with less right, to the ordi- 
nary title of esquire as the designation of a gentle- 
man. 

Law and physic^ however, do give employment to 

D 



34 POPULATION 

a great number of people. The military and govern- 
ment employes are also a very numerous class, and 
of ijo sn>all ?pr€tensions : human nature, under a 
'* little brief authority,'' is much the same, I believe, 
in all parts of the world. The clergy have dimi- 
nished greatly in numbers and importance, and the 
fj^^oltition in thisi as in other Catholic countries, has 
put an end to the unconstitutional influence exercised 
by them in old times, and under different circum- 
stances : the Government having taken possession 
of the ecclesiastical property, the officiating priests 
are left to depend upon a stipend, in general barely 
sufficient for their decent maintenance, so that there 
is but small inducement left for men to devote 
themselves to a life of celibacy. 

But it is the trade and commerce of Buenos Ayres 
which is the great source of occupation for its exten- 
sive population ; since, though the importing and 
exporting part of the business may be chiefly carried 
on by the foreign merchants, the details are for the 
most part left to the natives : they collect, and 
prepare, and bring in for sale, all the produce of the 
country, and retail the goods imported from foreign 
countries : nor is it thought at all degrading for 
young men of the best connexions to stand behind 
a counter : there they gossip with their fair cus- 
tomers upon a perfect equality, and in dandyism a 
Buenos Ayrean shopkeeper may be ba-cked against 
the smartest man-milliner of London or Paris. 

The mechanics and artisans, form also a large 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 35 

class, as may be supposed, in a country where 
everything is wanted, and no man feels inclined to do 
much ; it is in this line that the European has so 
decided an advantage over the native from his more 
industrious habits ; for he requires no siesta, and 
works whilst the natives of all classes, high and low, 
are asleep : he cannot fail to prosper if he will but 
avoid the drinking-shops ; but he must be resolute 
on that point, for it is a temptation which he finds 
at the corner of every street : no less than 600 pul- 
perias are open in the city alone, as appears by the 
list of licenses annually taken out at the police*] -hk 
For every one who will work there is employment, 
and as to real want, it can hardly exist in a country 
where beef is dear at a halfpenny a-pound, and where 
the generality of the lower orders eat nothing else. 

* The same list will give some idea of the general distribution 
of the trades for 1836 ; it wis as follows: — 

358 Wholesale stores^^oi 889niaud Qib lo JlBq gni^TlOqxS 

348 Retail shops. r r - - . 

323 Shops of tailors, shoemakers, milliners, and all handicrafts. 
6 Booksellers. -^^ -^-J ^^ ^^'^^i ^'U'^ :taOHl 

598 Pulperias, or drinking^sli^fjff.iol Hi gllild b«£ ^Sli^qS'iq 
26 Billiard-tables. . ^^ ^^^ j-^^^,^ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^ 

44 Hotels, taverns, and eating-houses. . \ 

48 Confectioners and liqueur-shops. ^ ^* *^^^ .gyntnuoa 
29 Chemists and apothecarieaiS iasd arfi" lo flom gni/0'\( 
76 Flour-shops and bakeries. v^Jjq^qJ^ : 'i^auoo f> 
44 Baracas, or hide-warehouses. „ 

33 Timber-yards. "i.. 10i)ll8q £ flOqu aiOiHOi 

13 Livery-stables. \, iSqiysiqorla lliiSl^A gOn^Ifil 

6 Coachmakers. bnoJ 1o imiWim-mym t?9t-|Rm5* «tfft 
874 Carts and carriages paid duties. 



D 



-msvog wen orfJ bus ,8iaifloloD erfl aoqu ^8V/ 
iifidt aioffi of) oi looq oot :t9^ gjs naecf % 
,enob need axjd t^ilv^^ ^ ^^_,^ir_yl9^jjro3d£ 
yxW oJ iib9io 8900 bi -1 need a&d 

CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. r . 

brfekt extent of tbe City. Public Bu!iiclm^S.''''Icrc(mveiiient'' Ar- 
rangement and want of Comfort in the Dwellings of the Natives 
a few years ago. Prejudice against Chimneys. Subsequent 
Improvements introduced by Foreigners. Iron gratings at the 
4t^ #indbws necessary. Water scarcis and ^ear. That of the River 
.^p Plata excellent, and capable of being kept a very long time. 

Pavement of Buenos Ayres. 
'^ ■ -ix'-ilJyiL: ^:0... 

Buenos Ayres, like all other cit^^s m* Spanish 
America, is built upon the uniform plan* prescribed 
I believe by the Council of the Indies, consisting of 
straight streets, intersecting each other at right angles 
every 1 50 yards ; and, from the peculiar construction 
of the houses, covers at least twice the ground which 
would be required for any Europeaji- cky X)f the 
same population. "J^q ,^nivi93 ^f^ivm n- 

With the exception of the churches, which, though 
"Unfinished externally, exhibit in their interior all the 
^audy richness of the religion to which they belong, 
and will be lasting memorials of the pious zeal of 
the Jesuits, who built the greater part of them, 
there is nothing remarkable in the style of the pub- 
lic buildings. The old government considered 
^oney laid out in beautifying the city as so much 

* Mr. Scarlet has given the best possible description of this plan, 
in comparing it to a chess-board : — the relative proportions are as 
nearly as possible four English acres to each square. 



CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 37 

thrown away upon the colonists, and the new govern- 
ment has been as yet too poor to do more than 
has been absolutely necessary ; what has been done, 
however, has been well done, and does credit to the 
republican authorities. 

In their private dwellings there w^as a wretched 
want of every comfort, when I first went to the 
country. With but few exceptions, they were con- 
fined to a ground flioor ; the apartments built eii 
^z^«^^, without passages, round two or three succes- 
sive quadrangular courts, called patios, opening into 
each other ; and the whole distribution about as 
primitive and inconvenient as can be imagined. .fnA 

The floors of the best rooms were of bricks or 
tiles, the rafters of the roof seldom hid by a ceiling, 
the walls as cold as whitewash could make them ; 
wdiilst the furniture was of the most gaudy, tawdry. 
North American manufticture : a few highly -coloured 
French prints, serving, perhaps, to mark the state 
x)f the fine arts in South Americ%q93X9 9dj diiW 

Nothing could be more anti-cbmfortable to Eng- 
lish eyes. In cold weather these cold-looking 
rooms were heated by braziers, at the risk of chok- 
ing the inmates with the fumes of charcoal ; chimneys, 
so far from being looked upon as wholesome ventilar- 
tors, were regarded as certain conductors of wet and 
cold ; and it was not till long after the introduction 
of them by the European residents had practically 
proved their safety and superiority over the old 
Spanish warming-pans, that the natives could be in- 



38 CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

duced to tty 'khM[)^>^^he apprehension that they 
increased th^ risk of fire was even without founda- 
tion, for nevei' were the habitations of man built of 
sllbh incombustible materials. The roofs and floors, 
I have already said, are all of brick, and the few 
beams which are necessary for supporting the former 
are of a wood from Paraguay, as hard as teak, and 
almost as incombustible as the bricks themselves. 
*'^0f the prejudices of the natives about chimneys I 
ih'dy' perhaps have rather a sensitive feeling, from a 
practical experience I liad myself upon the subject 
soon after my landing amongst them. There was 
but biie iri all the apartments I occupied with my 
family, and that oiie my Spanish landlord, to my no 
small dismay and astonishment, ordered a bricklayer 
to stop up one afternoon over our heads, because 
he had had a dispute with my servants about the 
necessity of occasionally sweeping it, which he chose 
to take this ^ummar^^way of putting an end to. 
The weather wa^ w^t and bad enough, and I never 
was more in want of the comfort of a good fire ; 
but no entreaty or remonstrance could shake 
the obstinate determination of the old Don. He 
had the advantage of us by living over head, in the 
upper apartments of the building ; and he was de- 
termined to make us fully sensible of the de facto 
superiority of his authority. He required no chim- 
ney himself, and he could not be made to understand 
that a Spanish brazier would not answer all our 
English wants just as well as it did his. 



CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 39 

I lived, however, long enough in Buenos Ayres 
to see great changes in these matters, and such 
innovations upon the old habits and fashions of 
the people as would make a stranger now doubt 
whether it really be the place he may have read of 
In nothing is the alteration more striking than in 
the comparative comfort, if not luxmiy, which has 
found its way into the dwellings of the better classes : 
thanks to the Enghsh and French upholsterers, who 
have swarmed out to Buenos Ayres, the old white- 
washed walls have been covered with paper in all 
the varieties from Paris ; and European furniture 
of every sortumotc| be met with in every house. 
English grates, supplied with coals carried out from 
Liverpool as ballast, and often sold at lower prices 
than in London, have been brought into very general 
use, and certainly have contributed to the health 
and comfort of §^ city^ the atmosphere of which is 
nine days out.Qfjteia, affected by the damps from the 
river. Nor is the improvement confined to the^jini- 
ternal arrangement of the houses, a striking change 
has taken place in the whole style of building in 
Buenos Ayres. With the influx of strangers, the 
value of property, especially s ijpi -thjef Miq^e .^central 
part of the city, has been greatly enhanced, and has 
led the natives to think of economising their ground 
by constructing upper stories to their houses in the 
European fashion, the obvious advantage whereof 
will no doubt ere many years make the plan general, 
and greatly add to the embellishment of the city. 



40 CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

Some peculiarities will probably long be pre- 
served, such amongst other as <iie if on gratings, 
or rather railings, which protect the windows, and 
which, on more than one occasion, have proved the 
uest safeguards of the inhabitants : it requires some 
time for a European to become reconciled to their 
appearance, which ill accords with the beau-ideal 
of republican liberty and public safety ; yet when 
painted green they are rather ornamental than other- 
wise, particularly when hung, as they frequently are, 
with festoons of the beautiful air-plants of Paraguay, 
which there live and blossom even on cold iron , 
and dne does get reconciled to them, I believe, from 
a speedy conviction of their necessity in the present 
state of society in those countries : — in the hot 
nights of summer, too, it is some comfort to be 
able to leave a window open without risk of in- 
trusion ; though some of the light-fingered gentry 
have made this not quite so safe as it used to be. 
I have known more than one instance of a clever 
thief running off with the clothes of the sleeping 
inmates, fished through the gratings by means of 
one of the long canes of the coiititry, with a hook at 
the end of it : — in one well-knowit casief, a gentle- 
man>s watch was thus hooked out of its pocket at 
his bed's head, and he was but just roused by his 
frightened wife in time to catch a last glimpse of 
the chain and seals as they seemingly danced out of 
the window. > 'il88?r 

It will hardly be credited that water is an expen- 



CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 41 

sive article within fifty yards of the Plata, but so it 
is; nothing can be worse than the ordinary supply 
of it. That obtained from the wells is brackish and 
bad, and there are no public cisterns or reservoirs, 
although the city is so slightly elevated above the 
river, that nothing would be easier than to keep it 
continually provided by the itlostl'drdmary artificial 
means. As it is, those who c^i>diFord>ritiigq to a 
great expense in constructing large tanks under the 
pavement of their court-yards, into wbicb the rain- 
water collected from the flat-terraced roofs of their 
houses is conducted by pipes ; and in general a 
sufficiency may thus be secured for the ordinary 
purposes of the family; but the lower orders, who 
cannot afford to go to such an expense, depend 
for a more scanty supply upon the itinerant water- 
carriers, who, at a certain time of day, are to 
be seen lazily perambulating the streets with huge 
butts filled at the river, mounted on the monstrous 
cart-wheels of the country, and drawn by a yoke 
of oxen; a clumsy and expensive contrivance alto- 
gether, which makes even water dear within a 
stone's throw of the largest river in the world. 
Taken at the very edge, is is seldom: df the purest, 
and generally requires to stand twenty-four hours 
before it deposits its muddy sediment, and becomes 
sufficiently cleared to be drinkable ; it is then ex- 
cellent, and may be kept for any time. I have 
drunk it myself on board ship, after it had been 



42 CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 

two voyages to England and back, and never tasted 
betterla euw a^lq n dons lo noiton Ssih sdl mthi 

The principal streets are now tolerably paved 
with granite brought from the islands above Buenos 
Ayres, especially from Martin Garcia. How the 
people got about before they were paved it is diffi- 
cult to understand, for the streets must have been 
at times one continued slough ; at least if one may 
judge from the state of those which are still un- 
finished, and which, after any continuance of wet 
weather, are nearly, if not entirely, impassable, even 
for people on horseback, much more so for carriages. 
I have seen in some of them the mire so deep that 
the oxen could not drag the country carts through 
it; and it not unfrequently happens, in such a case, 
that the animals themselves are unable to get out, 
and are left to die and rot in the ^^wa^mp in the 
middle of the street, n^oq-wq erfi lo^ jih 

It was a fair sample of the miserable economy 
and wretched policy of the colonial authorities^ that 
a commercial city of such importance, and in which 
the traffic was daily increasing, should have been 
allowed so long to remain in such a state, with an 
inexhaustible supply of the best paving materials in 
the world within twenty or thirty miles of it, and of 
such easy water-carriage. The people however, 
were led to believe that the difficulties and impedi- 
ments to such an improvement as the general paving 
of the city were next to insurmountable. 



CITY OF BUENOS AYRES. 43 

The Viceroy himself, the Marquis of Loreto, 
when the first notion of such a plan was started, 
gravely gave, amongst other reasons against it, the 
danger of the houses falling down from the shaking 
of their foundations, by the driving of heavy carts 
over a stone pavement so close to them, whilst ano- 
ther and still more weighty objection in his opinion 
was, the necessity it would entail upon the people 
to put iron tires to their cart-wheels, and to shoe 
their horses, which, he reminded them, would cost 
them more than the animals themselves. Fortu- 
nately, his immediate successors, Aredondo and 
Aviles, were not deterred by similar alarms. The 
former commenced the work with activity about the 
year 1795, with the aid of a subscription voluntarily 
raised by the inhabitants ; and the latter carried it 
on to a much greater extent, levying a trifling duty 
upon the city for the purpose, which was readily 
submitted to, when, as the work advanced, the im- 
provement becanie manifest. In later times, espe- 
cially during the government of 1822-24, much 
more was done, and there are few of the principal 
streets which are not now more or less completed. 

The granite is excellent, and was carefully ex- 
amined in situ by Mr. Bevans, an English engineer, 
a few years ago, who reported that it was easy to 
be worked, and the supply inexhaustible. When 
the working of it is better understood by the natives, 
it will probably be brought into much more general 
use. 



44 
HI ,mw ,8uoxj.i5isnzd lisdi adicfmr ^ijtfil*! arf;^ io agn^q 

stood edi aoqu 8Dn< . Vdt r qm^eb ?r ^_nrfd^ 

JbflB Ji CfilMATE OF BUENOS AYRES, AND ITS EFFECTS. 

Climate of Buenos Ayres, liable to sudden changes. Influence of 
the North Wind. Case of Garcia. Effects of a Pampero. Dust- 
Storms and Showers of Mud. The Natives free from Epide- 
mics, but liable to peculiar affections from the state of the 
atmosphere. Lockjaw of very common occurrence. The Small- 
pox stopped by Vaccination. Introduced in 1805, and pre- 
served by an individual. Its jQrst introduction amongst the 
Native Indians by General Rosas. Cases of Lanjgeyity, of 
_ frequent occurrence. . ^ 

,ni:'f3 orft lo gq-ioq odj ruihioqD ; noituzisk'i LiiP , 
AzARA, the Dest oi all writers upon the country, 

has with much truth observed that the climate of 
Buenos Ayres is governed not so much by its lati- 
tude as by the wind, a change of which will con- 
tinually produce an alteration of from 20 to 80 
degrees in the thermometer * K'"'"^ " ~" ^""' "'""' 

I have been often asked' 'Whether the 'lieats in 
summer are not almost intolerable. On some days 
they are so ; the glass perhaps above 90"" in the shade, 
and all nature gasping for air ; but on those very days 
|;lie most experienced of the natives will be clothed 
in warm woollens instead of linen jackets and 
trousers, for fear of catching cold. \ ' 

During the greater part of the year the prevailing 
winds are northerly, which, passing over the marshy 

* Meteorological Tables will be found in the Appendix. 



CLIMATE OF BUENOS AYRES. 45 

lands of Entre Rios, and then over the wide ex- 
panse of the Plata, imhibe their exhalations, and, by 
the time they reach the southern shores of the river, 
have a great influence upon the climate. Every- 
thing is damp : the mould stands upon the boots 
cleaned but yesterday ; books become mildewed, and 
the keys rust in one's pocket. Good fires are the 
best preservatives, and I found them, if not abso- 
lutely necessary, at least very comfortable, during 
quite as many months as 1 should have had them in 
England; and yet I never, during nine years, saw 
snow, or ice thicker than a dollar, and the latter 
only once. Upon the bodily system the effect pro- 
duced by this prevailing humidity is a general lassi- 
tude and relaxation ; openi^g the pores of the skin, 
and inducing great liability to colds, sore throats, 
rheumatic affections, and all the consequences of 
checked perspiration ; one of the best safeguards 
against which is doubtless the woollen clothing of 
the natives, of which I have already spoken ; though 
they require it, perhaps, the more especially, be- 
cause they seldom stir out of their houses in the 
extreme heat of the day; and it is at the time 
they do go out, when the sun has lost its power 
and the damps of evening are setting in, that such 
precautions are doubly necessary. Europeans, at 
first, are loth to take the same care of themselves, 
but sooner or later they discover that the natives are 
right, and insensibly fall into their waysi*^ '^fHii-iu 
The evil effects of all this humidity, so far as 



46 CLIMATE OF BUENOS AYRES. 

they are dangerous, appear to be confined to the 
immediate vicinity of the river, and to the inhabit- 
ants of rtte city; for in the pampas the gauchos 
sleep upon the ground during the greater part of 
the year in the open air without risk. Their skins, 
however, like those of the cattle they watch, are 
probably impervious to the wit. {d b9fn99:^£ 

Before I went to Buenos Ayres I had suffered 
much from malaria fever, caught in Greece; and 
when I saw, for the first time, the low, flat, marshy 
appearance of the whole country, I expected nothing 
less than a return of my old ague. Everything 
around seemed to bespeak it : but Buenos Ayres is 
free from such disorders, and cases of intermittent 
fever, such as that I speak of, are rarely known there. 

Still, though free from the malaria of the Mediter- 
ranean coasts, the sirocco of the Levant does not 
bring with it more disagreeable affections than the 
sultry viento norte, or north wind of Buenos Ayres ; 
indeed, the irritability and iil-humours it excites in 
some people amount to little less than a temporary 
derangement of their moral faculties : it is a common 
thing to see men amongst the better classes shut 
themselves up in their houses during its continu- 
ance, and lay aside all business till it has passed; 
whilst amongst the lower orders it is a fact well 
known to the police that cases of quarrelling and 
bloodshed are infinitely more frequent during the 
north wind than at any other time. In illustration 
of this, I shall quote a case in point, the account 



EFFECTS OF THE NORTH WIND. 47 

of which I received from one of the most eminent 
medical men in the country, who had paid parti- 
cular attention during a practice of more than thirty 
years to its influence upon the human system. 

Not many years back, a man named Garcia was 
executed for murder. He was a person of some edu- 
cation, esteemed by those who knew him, and, in 
general, rather remarkable than otherwise for the 
civility and amenity of his manners ; his counte- 
nance was open and handsome, and his disposition 
frank and generous : but when the north wind set in 
he appeared to lose all command of himself, and such 
was his extreme irritability, that during its continu- 
andce he could hardly speak to any one in the street 
without quarrelling. In a conversation with my in- 
formant a few hours before his execution, he ad- 
mitted that it was the third murder he had been guilty 
of, besides having been engaged in more than twenty 
fights with knives, in which he had both given and 
received many serious wounds ; but, he observed, it 
was the north wind, not he, that shed all this blood. 
When he rose from his bed in the morning, he said, 
he was at once aware of its accursed influence upon 
him; — a dull headach first, and then a feeling of 
impatience at everytliing about him, would cause 
him to take umbrage even at the members of his 
own family on the most trivial occurrence. If he 
went abroad his headach generally became worse, 
a heavy weight seemed to hang over his temples, he 
saw objects, as it were, through a cloud, and was 



48 EFFECTS OF THE NORTH WIND. 

hardly conscious where he went. He was fond of 
play, and if in such a mood a gambling-house was 
in his way he seldom resisted the temptation ; once 
there, any turn of ill-luck would so irritate him, 
that the chances were he would insult some of the 
by-standers. Those who knew him, perhaps, would 
bear with his ill-humours, but, if unhappily he 
chanced to meet with a stranger disposed to resent 
his abuse, they seldom parted without bloodshed- 
Such was the account the wTetched man gave of 
himself, and it was corroborated afterwards by his 
relations and friends, who added, that no sooner had 
the cause of his excitement passed away than he 
would deplore his weakness, and never rested till he 
had sought out and made his peace with those whom 
he had hurt or offended. 

Europeans, though often sensible of its influ- 
ence, are not in general so liable it^, be affected by 
this abominable wind as the natives, ^ amongst whom 
the women appear to be the greatest sufferers, espe- 
cially from the headach it occasions. Numbers of 
them may be seen at times in the streets, walking 
about with large split-beans stuck upon their tem- 
ple^i; a sure sign which way the wind blows. The 
bean, which is applied raw, appears to^ act as a 
slight blister, and to counteract the relaxation caused 
by the state of the atmosphere. 

But it is not the human constitution alone that is 
affected; the discomforts of the day are generally 
increased by the derangement of most of the house- 



THE PAMPERO. 49 

hold preparations : — The meat turns putrid, the milk 
curdles, and even the bread which is baked whilst 
it lasts is frequently bad. Every one complains, 
and the only answer returned is — " Senor, es el 
viento nortec 

All these miseries, however, are not without their 
remedy ; when the sufferings of the natives are at 
their climax, the mercury will give the sure indica- 
tion of a coming pampero, as the south-wester is 
called ; on a sudden, a rustling breeze breaks 
through the stillness of the stagnant atmosphere_, 
and in a few seconds sweeps away the incubus and 
all else before it ; originating in the snows of the 
Andes, the blast rushes with unbroken violence over 
the intermediate pampas, and, ere it reaches Buenos 
Ayres, becomes often a hurricane. 

A very different state of things then takes place, 
and, from the suddenness of such changes, the most 
ludicrous, though often serious, accidents occur, par- 
ticularly in the river ; whither, of an evening espe- 
cially, a great part of the population will resort to 
cool themselves during the hot weather. There 
they may be seen, hundreds and hundreds of men, 
women, and children, sitting together up to their 
necks in the water, just like so many frogs in a 
mar.sh : if a pampero breaks, as it often does, unex- 
pectedly upon such an assembly, the scramble and 
confusion which ensues is better imagined than told ; 
fortunate are those who may have taken an attend- 
ant to watch their clothes, for otherwise, long ere 

E 



50 THE PAMPERO, 

tliey can get put. pf tte ,rivp•^^^ypJ^aa,•jtije}|e of dress 
is flying before, tihegale^,^; , ; ^^,,.^j^ ^ ^3^,3 [,, 

Not unfrequently the pampero is accompanied by 
clouds of dust from the parched pampas, so dense 
as to produce total darkness^ in which I have known 
instances of bathers in the river h^ins: droAvned ere 
they could find their >f.ay to the sj^r^^ I recollect 
on one of these occasipns, a gang of twenty convicts, 
who were working at the time in irons upon the 
beach, making their escape in t^i^.dt^rk. jgot one of 
whom, I believe, was retaken, r . . 

It is dif&cult to convey any idea of the strange 
effects o^ these dust-storms ; day is changed to night, 
and nothing can exceed the temporary darkness pror 
duced by them, which I have known to last for a 
quarter of an hour in the middle pf the day; very 
Trequently they are laid by a heavy fall of rain, 
which, mingling with the clouds of dfis^ias it pours 
down, forms literally a shower of mud*. The sort 

- 1 '♦'♦fHe' following letter, received from Btienos Ayres after my own 

idepeirture, gives an account of one of th^'^^ftMiflSnte It is dated 
" Buenos Ayres, 11th February, 1832. 

aq,d^YieBtfelSifeiy''*tt^''0!!i<a:'ahother of those awful dust-storms which 
you have previously witnessed ; it came on about a quarter past twelve 
o'clock. The rapidity of its approach, and awful opacity, alarmed the 
"whole population; in an instant, as' It Were, there was a transition 

il!Fom the glaring ray of the meridian td the most intense darkness. 

• Immense flocks, or rather one immense flight of birds, immediately 
preceded it, and, in fact, M^dVet incredible it may appear, com- 
menced the obscurity by their numbers. " 

" The whole time of its duration was eleven liiinutes and a half, 
the total darkness eight minutes and a half, by watch, observed by 



AND ITS EFFECTS. 



St 



of dirty picki^'iii'^^i^H people appear after being 
caught in such a storm is indescribable!^* "^^^ ^' 5 

Sometimes the consequences are 'iriore serious, 
and the pampero is accompanied by the most terrific 
thunder and lightning ; such, I believe, as is to be 
witnessed in no other part of the world, unless it be 
the Straits of Sunda. Nothing'^can be 'more ap- 
palling, lii Az^ra iiikjr he read an ' accoiiht of nine- 
teen persons killed by the lightning wliich fell in the 
city during one of these storms. ^ ' "/'" ^ 

But the atmosphere is effectually cleared'; man 
breathes once mor6, and all nature seems to revive 
under the exhilarating freshness of the gale :— the 
natives, good-humoured and thoughtless, laiigh over 
the less serious consequences, and soon forget the 
worst ; happy in the belief that, at any rate, they are 
free from the epidemical disorders of other regions. 

Still such variations from the ordinary courses 
of nature cannot but be productive of strange conse- 
quences ; and, though the transient effects pf ,an over- 
charged atmosphere may be, quickly dispelled by a 

.!^r. S. and myself by candlelight ; it i,va.s accx)mpanied by loud claps 
of thunder, but not a ray of lightning was visible, although the 
thunder, was by no means distant. After eleven minutes and a 
half, the rain began to fall in very large black drops, which had 
the effect upon the white walls of making them appear, when the sun 
again showed itself, as if they had been stained or sprinkled with ink. 
I never witnessed a more majestic or awful phenomenon. The con- 
sternation was general ; every one rushing into the nearest house, 
and all struggling to shut their doors on their neighbours. I have 
heard as yet of no accidents, although doubtless there must have been 
many ; the wind, of course from S.S.W.'' 

e2 



52 iMfkJ^^^^ 

pampero, andHl^ po|>14%^ reallf fl^#^fi«5^ epi- 
demics of^(^iter,>faott«itBiBfespth6£09is odv^ylreason to 
believe that, in l^ii^JJ^BtipiiM clifeate, the human 
system is in a higH degree fetlsceptible of affections 
which elsewhere would not be deemed worth a mo- 
ment's consideration. Besides those I have already 
spoken of as arising from the north wind, old wounds 
are found to burst out afresh, new onesaai^e very dif-^ 
fecult to heal; an apparently trivial spmin will induce 
^> weakness of the part requiring years perhaps to 
Mcover from, as I know from my own experience ; 
and lock-jaw from the most trifling accidents is so 
common as to constitute the cause of a very great 
portion of the deaths from hurts in the public hos- 
pitals^ A cut thumb, a nail run into the hand or 
feot, a lacerated muscle, will generally terminate in 
its and our own medical men well know how great 
a. proportion of ©id* rwminded Jn' the attack of 1806 
aaid 18Q7 died frorarMas <]fe'eaa4&d eaa^k The native 
practitioners attribute its frequent occurrence to 
strfiie pehuliarity in the atmosphere acting upon the 
system in a manner they are as yet unable to explain. 
Under the name of the /* mal de sieteidias " (the 
seven days' sicfcr¥e^s))p8aj teiasc^i^Hervof children 
are carried off by it in the fii'st week of their exist- 
ence ; but, as this mortality is principally limited to 
the lower orders, it n^ay perltaps in most cases be 
tmced tp mismanagement - and r neglect. With us, 
the long confinement of the mother ensures the same 
care of the infant in the first weeks of its life; but. 



SMALL-POX. 53 

in a country where the mother l^v^|h^^e^jmi|j3gfi| 
or three day^to return to her work, the cHldoto^fc 
often he neglected. Many a Buenos Ay reaB washer4 
woman may be seen at her usual work at the river- 
side three or four days after her delivery, with her 
infant lying for the greater part of the day upon a 
piece of cold hide, beside her on the damp ground? 
Can any oneg^MonderrthMi it: takes cold and dies? 
There was oa time, and but few years ago, when it 
was gravely asserted that the mortality amongst 
infants arose from their being baptized with coM 
water, and the authorities, concurring in the notion^ 
actually issued a decree that none but warm wateij 
should be used> for aticH pMTposesvin diife bhurches:| 
I believe, howe¥er,itbatirthe deaths were not found tq 
diminish, and that the priests are again permitted tol 
use cold water as before, though I doubt the enact- 
ment to the contrary havingieyei* been repealed ; but 
whj/r^ I should these tases so generally terminate in 
lock-jaw *x?ooo ;tfl9Jjp9ii ^ii diudhiss 8-isnoi;^iJoB'iq 
V, The dr^fui m5Fige6ffd<^arfd>rieH^{for.8iafeidy(^39ftte 
small-pox r iiafeeiiialtbfiiy been 5ti"a great fnea^i?© 
ai-rested cinmsgst9{thfe civilised portion of the in^ 
habitants by itHm^nfe-ai i^e of vaceaEnatapni: acci* 
dentally conveyedito^ Buinsiit A^i^sy;iiift(l80^iijy?tlie 
owner of a cargo ofcskveHj A'Wasipreserw^by the 
patriotic zeal of auBcpiEdi^l^ened prie8fe,4lDr. Segurolaty 
who, deeply impressed? with its immense importance, 

* Horses are very liable to the same affection, and are continually 
lost from it. 



54 ^ VACeiP^ATION INTRODUCED 

voluiitftiji}yir4eYDte4 MiTiself tather;4a?^Un®f propa- 
gating it amongsifcijjiisfr .cpunjtrym^n, especially the 
poor, ^liose igDorant prejudices he had often to 
combat, and \^^hom he was not unfrequently obliged 
to bribe to submit to the operation. For sixteen 
years he laboured incessantly in this vocation, at the 
expiration of which, he had the satisfaction of find- 
ing his single exertions no longer adequate to satisfy 
the general demand for it. The Government then 
(in 1822) relieved him of his charge, and insti- 
tuted, a proper establishment for the express pur- 
•posOj. of propagating vaccination gratis, not only in 
the city of , B^ejio^ Ay res, but tliroughout the re- 
public; others }ver^ afterwards added in the several 
country districts, from which the lymph is now dis- 
tributed to all who apply for it, and has been sent 
into every province of the interior. The authorities 
make it compulsory, as far as they can, on parents 
to carry their children to these establishments ; and 
the parochial priests are charged to see that they 
do so. 

J,: By a report published in 1829 upon this subject, 
jjt appeared, that in the city alone, in the previous 
nine months, as many as 4160 children had been 
.vaccinated ; a large proportion to the births, which 
!Q,r<e. , estimated at little more than 6000 yearly. I 
was more than once applied to for it from Rio 
de Janeiro, whither it was ,^l\^ays most i:§a4ily for- 
warded by the Buenos Ayrean administrator^ t iiw 
But the destruction created by the small-pox 



AMONGST THE INDIANS. 55 

amongst th^ Spaniards was nothing when compared 
to its dreadful corisequences amongst the native^ 
Indians. Whole tribes have been swept away by it : 
I believe, nation s-^whose languages have been lost. 
The plague is not more a frightful scourge than this 
disorder, when' it attacks the miserable inhabitants 
of the pampas : they themselves believe it to be in- 
curable, a feeling which adds to its lamentable conse- 
quences, for no sooner does it appear than their tents 
are raised, and the whole tribe takes to flight, aban- 
doning the unfortunate sufferers to the certainty of 
perishing of hunger and thirst, if the virulence of 
the disorder itself does not first carry th^ni^bfE.^^'^ ^^^^ 
^^'An opportunity, however, offered during the lime 
I was at Buenos Ayres of making known to these 
poor people, also, the effects of vaccination, under 
circumstances which it is to be hoped may eventually 
lead to its diffusion amongst them, as well as their 
more civilised neighbour^. *>^ uyibiaio imii irim oi 
{ ^^A large party of some bP'^# friendly tfibes, witli 
their wives and children, repaired to the city on a visit 
of duty to the Governor, General Rosas, and had not 
been there long when some of them were attacked 
with small-pox, amongst the rest, one of their prin- 
cipal Cacique^ii^ Afe usual, the sufferers were imme- 
diately abandoned bj^ their own relatives, and might 
have died like dogs, had not their more civilised 
friends taken charge of them, for which the poor 
wretches were abundantly grateful ; but their sur- 
prise was without bounds, when the Governor 



56 INBIAH^'VACClNiiTED. 

himself/ whb liai a i-egard foi* t^hfe' old Ghief^ went in 
persbiitd Visit hlrtif.^^^'G^h'^r^l*' Rosas did not fail to 
¥tifiikffi*^ihe^'sti'b'6g'impressi(3ii* created by his visit, 
^dM sdW at once the advantage to which it might 
be turned. Ordering the astonished Indians to be 
^brought beforie him, he showed them the mark upon 
his own arm, and fully explained to them the nature 
\Sf Ih^^^^cf^fc WM^h'had^^enklifed^ihitn to visit their 
'rfying Cacique with impunity. Tlie result was, that 
nearly 150 of them, including some of their Caciques, 
tl^atrieu, Cachul, Tetrue, Quindule, Callinao, Tori- 
feio, and Venancio, with their wives and children, 
W&#vaccinated on the spot at their own earnest soli- 
imktion ; and great was their childish delight on 
finding, in due time, the appearance of the disorder 
upon their arms, which they were fully satisfied 
would prove an infallible charm against the worst 
powers of the Evil one. 

The impression created by this interesting occur- 
rence vv^ill not be easily effaced, and, although sub- 
sequent events may have unfortunately delayed for a 
time the further propagation of this inestimable bless- 
ing amongst the Indians, I have little doubt that it 
will again be sought for ; and who can say that, with 
good management, it may not be converted into a 
means of domiciliating and reducing to Christianity 
the remnants of a race, who, in their turn, might 
repay with productive labour their benefactors a 
hundred fold ? 

I must not close this chapter without adding that. 



CA^ES OF LONGEVITY. 57 

notwithstanding what I have, §i^i4,£^utptt}ie effects of 
the clmiate uponoff 111^ ;. constitutions,! ;tj|^ P^9i?}:^ ^^ 
general live to ft good old age in perfect, enjoyment 
of their mental as well as bodily faculties ; and that 
instances of longevity are common, the following 
extracts from the several population returns will 

sufficiently prove>Hi^>aij6l(ixs Yilw"^ hnxi ,miB nwo aril 
jiad^ In t2iefC!Qn^|Lis[vC[f|,^778i, 33 cases are quoted of 
individuals then living in the city, aged .firo^i^O t9 
iOO; and 17 of from 100 to 112." 
: In the tabte of mortality for 1823 and 1824, 58 
persons are said to have died between the ages of 
90 and 100; 6 between 100 and I Jfl^j^j^^ between 
112 and 116 ; 1 of 128, and another 9fi,,13qj,,,sThe 
two last were fem«iQ8*iqq^ silj .miii sub ai .^nrbarl 
^...i.c <.^. ^^iiJi tji-3w \9di floiriw ,8nnfj ihih noqu 
toow edi ianiH'gs ariBdo sldillfilni hb s^cnq bimm 

.^no livM 9if;t'io aiywoq 

dug xf^uod;tli5 ebn^ ^bao^ls ^ligjss dd ioa Urw 900,91 
s lot b9^fil9b ^{l9tfiflutioinn 9YJ3d imn alns^Q .tfl9up9« 
-889fd 9fdfimit89a £ aiflj'lu nuiJiigj^q oiq 'isdiiui odi oaui 
iiiiidi iduob 9MI 9Yfjd I .gnijibnl edi ;t8^nomi5 -gai 
dim Mdi ^B8 aso odir bas ; lol Jdgjjog 9d nijs^ii Ifm 
Ji oJai b9;>i9vnoo 9d ;ton ^^ni ii M^ms'gaaBm boo^ 
vJiniiiJgndO o* ^monb9i bnu ^niifiifioimob I0 mmm 
*rf§iai ,aiut ii9dt ni ,oifw ,90J8i h "io 8;rnBnni9i sds 
^ 8'iot .ftl9a9d -mdi -luodd 9viioijboiq diiw ^fiq9i 



Ik , objfike^ leviH sdi aadi isrljiut 8noi8«s88oq ii^rii 
^aliiJori 10 sbfd bnu .axmhni edi ot ilsl 8BW bnopcl 
saoffo \3£b jjsdw iqsoxo ^y*^^^^*^^ "^^^^^ ^^ nwon:d[ ervw 
in0O33J3 Bill bsffgilduq laftjll^'i ihnn .atfioinunifnoo oi 
,J^TVI ni LnfilgflH gW^^g^^¥/^ -^ ^^ aino^/itB*^! 'io 
?i'>irfw aJfuaai beouboiq >iooc[ imii lo 9onBia9q<^^e ^^r^T 

Y9V1JJ8 l£19fl9^ & ^^^>PATAG0nM^^1^^0^ risiflBqC 911 J 

Little known of Patagonia till the appearance of Falkner's work in 

^'v 1774. It stimulates the Spanish Government to send out an 

90 expedition under Piedra in 1778, to form settlements upon the 

. cpast. He discovers the Bay of San Joseph's. Francisco 

Viedma forms a settlement on the River Negro. Antonio, his 

brother, explores the southern part of the coast, and forms another 

a/ / at San Julian's. His accouht of the Indians he found there. 

The New Settlements abandoned in 1783, with the exception of 

that on the River Negro. Villarino ascends that river, as far as 

^■>^^ the Cordillera opposite Valdivia. A dispute with the Arauca- 

"tQ nian Indians prevents his communication v^ath the Spaniards of 

Chile, and obliges him to return. Piedra succeeds Viedma, 

attacks the Pampa Tribes,' and is defeated. Don Ortiz de Rosas, 

^* father of the present Governor of Buenos Ayres, is taken pri- 

^ soner by them, and succeeds in bringing about a general paci- 

fication. Subsequent neglect 'of the settlement on the Rio 

, Negro. Its population in 1825, and coasting-trade with Buenos 

'-mid b9tov9b sil fbidw dfr-ir Ie9S odf lol 8i.fO'' 
Before they became independent of Spain, and 
whilst the people of Buenos Ayres possessed in the 
Banda Oriental more waste lands than they wanted, 
safe from any incm-sions of the Indians, and better 
adapted perhaps than any other in South America 
for the rearing of cattle, at that time their only 
object, they had no particular inducement to extend 



FALKNER's PATAGONIA. 59 

their possessions further than the River Salado ; all 
beyond was left to the Indians, and little or nothing 
was known of their country, except what they chose 
to communicate, until Falkner published his account 
of Patagonia in a country town in England in 1774. 
The appearance of that book produced results which 
the author perhaps little anticipated, for it stimulated 
the Spanish Governm^eijl to niak a general survey 
of the coast of Patagonia, and to form settlements 
upon it, the history of which to this day has never yet 
been made public. It is of those measures, and the 
information derived from them, that I purpose to 
give some account in this chapter^rfj gQ^ofqxe /rerLtoid 

Father Falkner, the authorabdte alluded'4^|«was 
an Englishman, who, from a very early age, seems 
to have had a passion for travelling. Brought up to 
the medical profession, he went in the capacity of 
a surgeon on board a trading-vessel to Cadiz, where 
he embarked in one of the Assiento ships, bound on 
a slaving voyage, eventually to Buenos Ay res: there 
he was induced to enter the order of Jesuits, in 
which, as a missionary, he afterwards made himself 
conspicuous for the zeal with which he devoted him- 
self to the conversion of the Indian inhabitants of 
the unexplored regions of that part of the world. 
Forty years he passed amongst them, and, but for 
the expulsion of his order from South America, he 
would probably have ended his days there. On his 
return to England, he wrote his book, to this 



60 PIEDRA's VOYAGE >|i^C^8 10 

day the only authentic accounts dwei^hfi)^ of the 
manners and customs of the Indians [<;>Jlithdpampasi 
whilst the map it contains, compiled partly from his 
own observations, and partly from Indian accounts, 
has furnished the principal, if -not the sole data for 
all those which have since been published of the in r^ 
terior of their couufi^xiw bsagsiqmi 08 has Ji gbnuod 
uiiQim 9f his fv'^ci^)^\^^muMtimid'^idwamiM 
ppint out how vulnfei^abfernb^datiyjibqstiie naVal 
power were the Spanisflflpoft^^s^jpnlligifi^Hose parts ; 
and hardly had the book appe^ii^oS^Siitha Spanish 
Qovi^i;^ment> ta^kiga^^mp-iiGM bis ^at^gestions 
should be hstenj^di'|i)[irtjiEii^af^c^^t8te«ocet orders 
to the Viceroy of >j]^u6|:i§gt^yi<f>^ t^ltpive Ae whole 
^ast of Patagonia carefully suil^Key^fbitodliiawView 
"to the formation of such new setflen^iehts upon it 
as might secure the King of Spain's rights, and 
forestall the Enghsh in their supposed intention of 
appropriating to themseiv^ Afelvaluable fisheries on 
the southeji^n partjofi-lte eefefcslgsl -lo a-iom 'gahistt^ loi 
, Competent officei^S were sq3AjS)iflfe&Srom? Spain for 
ttie purpose, and no expense t^sst^jfarrfd/ to execute 
the survey as completely as po^ibl^o aBEhe command 
Wlisgi^tTjis W^o JBoabJrianB JdedbtEfeduay \^dao asaikd 
feQ^]V|iE9J.te>i Video on thqsj ^i^keqcin l^ilSth De- 
cember, 1778. .gnoigesaaoq xlain^qS siiJ io 
8 r Running d6wn ite(B(8a{slf|^n'icthed!itiinJaatiafy^he 
entered, theo great /bay9ithe6ogttlied>dl^|J« Sin-fondo;" 
or Saa Matthias' Bay^ but, now more generally' 
'^riJ to ia3mfli9voO dgiflijqgl sdi doidw gsiisdad 



DISCOVERY OF SAN JOSEPH'S. 61 

known undei^vthe^tmame of San AntonioV^^ llife 
bottom of3rfill^a®l«/iflibMtyifle 42° 13', he discovered 
the entraA^^f Wiq^l^e .Mrbour, Avhich he named 
San Josepfc^s!;" ^ - xi ^(biJ3t 

Piedra passed thr^ rfacinths in examining the 
shores of this great gulf and the peninsula which 
bounds it, and so impressed wa^ he with its capabi-^ 
lities that, without proceeding further, he left an 
officer and part of his men to build a fort there, and 
returned himself to the Rive^*- iPlate^ to^-giv^^ art 
account of his discovery. ^ood sdi b^d ilbiM baa 
gr According to his report, ind^(&^,^4t 4^^m^'^^^ 
many grouttds to offer a most eligibl#9iitt M-¥^»^ 
settlement. 9v#hf^ fbrt itself was said to be deep 
and cominbliiJu^," "affording anchorage for ships of 
any size, whilst its situation seemed particularly con- 
venient not only for facilitating the further explora- 
tion of the great rivers Negro and Colorado, whicK 
empty therasel5ies a little to the northward of it, but 
for securing more or less the entrance of those rivers 
against any sudden surprise by the enemies of Spain, 
a point to which great importance was attached ik 
the instructions of the surveying officers, in conse- 
quence of the statements made by Falkner as t& 
the possibility of passing up them iuto the very hear^ 
of the Spanish possessions. 

The vast number of whales a^d seals which were 
seen in its neighb6urhood, tooreov^r^ heM out the 
promise of its becoming a station whence to carry on 
those fisheries which the Spanish Government of the 



62 THE RIO NEGRO SETTLED. 

dajfiwererc SO anxious to establisl^^^ f i^hilst the exten- 
sive salt deposits in several parts of the peninsula 
promised an inexhaustible supply of an article of the 
first necessity in Buenos Ayres in curing the hides 
andbeefl 

The oMysA^btfellJogtcpffe^i Station was the 
apparent scarcitj^oofuife^fe^^f^eP/^^wiiich the dis- 
coverers had great difficulty in finding in the first 
instance, though subsequently a sufficiency was ob- 
tained at some distance from the coast : it was, how- 
ever, at all times more or less brackish, and eventu- 
ally caused much sickness and suffering to the 
settlers. '^^XQ ^^^ ^aisbio o^edi "io sonBisdi* 
a' The Viceroy was dissatisfied #itll Piedra for re- 
turning, and superseded him, when it devolved upon 
Don Francisco and Antonio Viedma (the officers 
next in command of those sent out from Spain) to 
carry into execution the intentions of their Govern- 
ment. These brothers were long employed upon 
various parts of the coast of Patagonia, and collected 
much valuable information respecting that terra in- 
cognita, 

/^ In April, 1779, Don Francisco sailed from San 
Joseph's, to form a settlement on the River Negro, 
in favour of which he was fortunate enough to propi- 

n* rii'^^B^t[ffenfe^^f(3iPVi6feM#hd='i^'^llfe?wtet^ first 
accounlts of San Joseph's were brought to Monte Video, a merchant 
of that place, Don Francisco de Medina, fitted out a vessel to go a 
whaling there, the crew of which, in ;the first month, harpooned no 
less than fifty fish within the port. ' ^^* ^mr^^qs iiS 



viedma's survey, ht 63 

tiate the Y^.i^j^^^j who supplied him with meii an(h 
stores, and aji; things necessary for the purpose. 

Don Antonio was left in charge at San Joseph's,; 
but, the scur\?y breaking out amongst the people to i 
great extent, they became so dissatisfied that he was 
under the necessity in the course of the summer of 
returning with the greater part of them to Monte. 
Video. He was not, however, permitted to be long 
idle ; and in the January following (1780) was 
again despatched to carry out the original^ plan, and 
to survey the whole of the southern part of the 
coast of Patagonia.f^^j. ggenjioig doum hesmo \[h 

In furtherance of these orders, he examined the 
several ports of St. Helena, San Gregorio, the 
northern shores of the great Bay of San George, 
Port Desire, and San Julian's : Avhich occupied 
him till the end of May, when, the coid weather 
setting in, he hutted his people for the winter at 
Port Desire^ and despatched one of his vessels to 
Buenos Ayres with an account of his proceedings^ojiv 

Of all the places he had visited, San Julian's' ap- 
peared to offer the best, if not the only suitable site 
for any pei-manent establishment. Everywhere else, 
the coast presented the aspect of sandy, steril dunes, 
intermixed with stones and gravel, fit only, to all 
appearance, for the occupation of the wild guana- 
coes and ostriches, which wandered over them in 
quest of the scanty coarse grass which constituted 
their only herbage. No wood was to be seen bigger 
than a small species of thorny shrub, fit only for the 



64 SAN JULIAN'S OCCUPIED. 

purposes of fuel; and^ as to water, it was every 
where scarce, and the little to be found was gene- 
rally brackish and bad. The ports, too, were most 
of them difficult and dangerous of access, affording 
little or no security for vessels above the size of a brig. 
San Julian's was so far an exception, that at high 
tide the largest ships might enter and lay safely at 
anchor within the bar off its mouth. A constant 
supply of water, too, was found three or four miles 
inland, proceeding from some springs in the hills, 
about which there was good pasturage, and enough of 
it to have induced a considerable tribe of Indians to 
fix upon it as their ordinary dwelling-place. There, 
also, Viedma proposed to plant a little colony ; 
and, the Viceroy approving the plan, the people 
were removed from Port Desire in the month of 
November, and commenced building their habita- 
tions in the vicinity of the springs above mentioned, 
about a league from the coast. They received the 
materials, and a variety of necessary supplies, from 
Buenos Ayres, not the least useful of which were 
some carts and about twenty draught-horses, which 
enabled them afterwards to keep up a constant com- 
munication between the shore and their little settle- 

They found the Indians extremeTy well disposed, 
and ready to render them every assistance in their 
power, in return for the trifling presents they made 
them. Altogether there might be about 400 of 
them, and about half as many more were encamped 



INDIANS SETTLED THERE. 65 

upon the Santa Gruz River further soutb. v^vijiifssq 
were apparently the only inhabitants of those regionsti* 
They said that in their journeys northward they fell 
in with no, other toldos or encampments till they 
came to a over twenty-five days off; there were 
som.e more two days beyond again upon a second 
river, and thence it w^ast>venty days further to the 
toldos of the Indians of Tucamalal, on the river 
called by Villarino the Encarnacion, which falls into 
the great River Negro ; altogether, according to their 
computation, something less than fifty days' travel 
from San Julian's** To those parts they were in the: 
habit of occasionally repairing in order to buy fresh 
horses frona^ithe tribes there resident,; who they said 
had plenty^ of them, and exchanged them for tha^ 
guanaco skins rwhich they took from the more souths/ 
ern part of the country. They caught those animal^^ 
with their bolas and lassoes, and often supplied the 
colonists with fresh meat when they hadBiK)jni!eanfeB 
of their ovtii^ pf obtainingiit'io ^imB^/ & has ^gfijiidtBin 
This assistance was of the gi-^ater valu^to themV 
as the winter set in with a severity against which 
th^y werg.yg^;y ipdilFerently prepared.. The months 
of ,]^jmjp€^[jjp]j^fffin^iiAugust were .piesfdingly cold, 
much snow fell, and the people, unused to such a;: 
climate, l)eqa,i^e /Very sickly, and many of them died. 
Viedma hims^fs;>y^ so ill as to be some time con-fu 
fined to^^i^l^^^^^N^Y^^ii^ till th^ ii§twyii,QfiSprangq 

long march,^^^ .s^^^^^f ^^lomr ynBrn 8,8 Vm\ Ir/odf; hm jtnAt 

F 



66 INLAND EXCURSION 

tliat the survJLVors began to recover their strength, 
and were able to go on with the works. They got 
through the subsequent winter better, after their 
houses were completed, and they were able to collect 
some necessary comforts about them. The vegetables 
they planted throve well, and in the second Feb- 
ruary tjtiey^, gathered in their Jir^t, .||arvest, which 
yielded a fair crop in proportion to the,, porn sown. 
Xhe brushwood in the surrounding country was 
sufficient to supply them with fuel, but there was 
no timber fit for building, of which they were 
idaily in want; and in quest of this Viedma was in- 
duced to make an excursion into the interior by the 
Indians, who asserted that an abundance was to be 
had near the source of the Santa Cruz river, which 
tjiey said was a great lake at the foot of the Cor- 
dillera, whither they offered to guide him. 

On thi§, expedition he left San Julian's early in 
November (1782), with some of his own people, 
arid a party of the Indians under their cacique. 
Proceeding westward, and inclining to the south, 
oyer hills and dales, at a distance of about twenty- 
^ve leagues they reached the Rio Chico, or little 
river, Avhich the Indians said fell into the harbour of 
Santa Cruz. There was at that time no difficulty 
in fording it, the water not being much above their 
saddle-girths, and its width not above fifty yards, 
though, from the appearance of its steep and water- 
worn banks, it was evidently a much more consider- 
able stream during the season of the floods. The 



WITH THE INDIANS. 67 

Indians said it was the drain of a lake far in the 
north-west, formed by the melting of the snows ih 
the Cordillera. 

So far, wherever they halted, they had found no 
lack of pasturage for their horses, or water, or 
brushwood for fuel ; but after crossing the Chico 
the country became more rocky and barren : four- 
teen leagues beyond the Chico they came to'a 
much more considerable river, called the Chalia 
by the Indians, who described it as issuing from 
another lake in the mountains, between the sources 
of the Rio Chico and those of the great river of 
Santa Cruz, which it joined, they said, further on. 
They found it too deep to cross where they first 
reached it, and were obliged in consequence to follow 
its course upwards for eight leagues, over a stony, 
rugged country, which lamed all their horses, and 
the desolate appearance of which was increased by 
the visitation of a flight of locusts which had de- 
voured all the vegetation for three leagues. They 
crossed it, at last, at a place called Quesanexes by 
their Indian guides, from a remarkable rock stand- 
ing out like a tower from the rocky, rugged cliffs 
which there bounded the bed of the river (some 
basaltic formation probably) . ^ ^^^^ ^ ^w ij m ^ 

On looking at the sketch, in the Ifetenth toiume of 
the *' Journal of the Geographical Society," of Captain 
Fitz Roy's Survey of the river Santa Cruz, it appears 
probable that the Chalia is the stream which runs 
into it from basalt glen, and which, though a very 

f2 



68 SOURCE OF SANTA CRUZ RIVER 

inconsiderable one at the season he passed by it, 
was manifestly one of much more importance at 
other times. 

Eight leagues after crossing the Chalia they came 
to the great lake under the Cordillera, which the 
Indians had talked of as the origin of the Santa 
Cruz Kiver. "^ ^ 

Viedma describes it as of great extent, situated in 
a sort of bay, or vast amphitheatre of the moun- 
tains, from the steep ravines of which ran down 
the many streams which filled it, chiefly derived 
from the melting of the snows in the north-west : 
he skirted it for twelve leagues to its extremity 
in that direction, and estimated its extreme length at 
about fourteen ; its width, he says, might be from 
four to five leagues. Some dark patches amongst 
the snow on the distant heights indicated the clumps 
of trees of which the Indians had spoken ; but the 
few which Viedma was able to examine were not 
what he had been led to expect ; he speaks of them 
as resembling a wild cherry, with a fruit in appear- 
ance not unlike it, though of a more orange colour, 
and without a stone and very tasteless ; the wood 
stunted, and so crooked as to be entirely unfit for 
anything but burning. May it not have been the 
crab- apple ? We know there are plenty of apples 
further north in the same range. 

Describing the appearance of the Cordillera from 
the head of the lake, he says, towards the north 
it looked like a vast table-land stretching from east 



IN THE CORDILLERA. 69 

to west ; but it had a different appearance in the 
south, breaking into steep and broken peaks, for the 
most part covered with snow. The Indians said 
that neither to the north nor south was the main 
chain passable by man or beast for a very long dis- 
tance. They all concurred in stating that a large 
liver issued from the south-east angle of th|e lake, 
which they believed to be the great river of Santa 
Cruz* ; Viedma, unfortunately, was not able to 
examine it, as he wished, in consequence of the 
apparent swelling of the mountain-torrents, which 
alarmed the Indians lest they should so increase the 
rivers as to prevent their recrossing them on their 
return ; nor were they very wrong, for, by the time 
they got back to the Chico, they found it a wide and 
rapid stream no longer fordable. 

It was proposed that some of the Indians who 
could swim should tow Viedma across on a balsa, 
which they set^ to rW0|;k to construct of hides and 
sticks, but when completed, it looked so frail and 
dangerous a ferry, that the Spaniards preferred run- 
ning the risk of swimming their horses over. This 
they accomplished without accident, and reached 
San Julian's in safety again on the 3rd of Decem- 
her, after nearljjr a month's absence, during which 
they vv^ere mucn indebted to the Indians for their 

* Captain FitzRoy followed it for nearly 200 miles, and found it a 
very considerable river the whole way, — never fordable, according to 
the accounts he received. He must have been very near the lake 
when he found himself obUged to turn back. 



70 ABANDONMENT OF THE 

friendly aid, and knowledge of the country through 
which they passed. 

The people of this tribe, who had never seen 
a Spaniard before, Viedma describes as of large 
stature, generally above six feet high, and very 
stout and fleshy ; their faces broad, but of good ex- 
pression, and their complexion rather sunburnt than 
naturally dark. Their skin cloaks, worn very 
long, and reaching when on foot to their heels, gave 
them an appearance of greater height than the 
reality. Their habits and customs, according to his 
account, seem to differ little from those of the 
Pampa tribes, of which I shall elsewhere have 
to speak. The men employed themselves in hunt- 
ing guanacoes and other animals for their skins, and 
for meat to eat, whilst the women performed all the 
domestic offices and drudgery of the household, such 
as it was ; but the good disposition uniformly shown 
by them gave Viedma a most favourable opinion of 
them, forming, as it did, a striking contrast with the 
character of the tribes further north. 

Shortly after this ' excursion (in April, 1783) 
Don Antonio, considering his little colony as fairly 
planted, proceeded to Buenos Ayres for the recovery 
of his health. There the mortification awaited him 
of learning that all his labour had been thrown away* 
and that the Government of Spain had resolved to 
break up the Patagonian settlements. The fact was, 
that the great trouble and expense already incurred, 
from the necessity of supplying all their first wants 



NEW SETTLEMENTS. 71 

from Buenos Ayres ; the grumbling and complaints 
of the settlers themselves, of the hardships they had 
to go through, and of the inclemency of a climate 
to which they were unaccustomed (which, joined to 
the bad quality of their salt provisions, had certainly 
produced scurvy amongst them to a frightful ex- 
tent), had all tended to create so unfavourable an 
impression upon the Viceroy, that he had been led 
to express a strong opinion to his Government as 
to their worse than uselessness. The consequence 
was, that after three or four years, in which up- 
wards of a million of hard dollars was spent upon 
them, orders were sent out to abandon them all, ex- 
cept the settlement upon the Rio Negro, after setting 
up at San Joseph's, Port Desire, and San Julian's, 
signals of possession, as the English had done at 
Port Egmont, for evidence in case of need, of his 
Catholic Majesty's rights^sf (> boo^ -^dt vtrrrf - 

Don Antonio Viedma, who took a lively interest 

* In 1670 Sir John Narborough passed six months at' San Julian's; 
he also visited Port Desire, and took possession of it, ,with all due 
form, for his master, Charles II. — Anson was also at both places 
in 1741, and the account of his voyage contains views of that part of 
the coast, and of the harbour of San Julian's. 

Narborough, who is very precise in his description of the country, 
gives anaccouftt of a geological fact, which is of some interest now-a- 
days. He says, *' Going on shore on the north-west side of the har- 
bour of San Julian's with thirty men, I travelled seven or eight miles 
over the hills, &c. On the tops of the hills and in the ground are 
very large oyster-shells ; they lie in veins in the earth and in the firm 
rocks, and on the sides of the hills in the country ; they are the 
biggest oyster-shells that ever I saw, some six, some seven inches 
broad, yet not one oyster is to be found in the harbour." 



72 STERIL APPEARANCE 

in the settlement he had formed at San Julian's, in 
vain raised his voice against this determination, and 
endeavom-ed to show that the grievances of the 
settlers were but the natural difficulties to be ex- 
pected in the infancy of all new colonies ; that they 
knew the worst of them, and many of their remedies ; 
that a fiirther experience of the seasons had shown 
that the lands, so far from being unfit for cultivation, 
as amongst other things was alleged, were quite 
sufficiently productive to support them in after-years 
without further aid from Buenos Ayres ; and as to 
the expenses, the heaviest were already incurred; 
whilst the fisheries alone promised sources of wealth 
and revenue to the mother country, as well as to the 
neighbouring viceroyalty. But these arguments met 
with little attention, and came too late to alter the 
.determination of the higher powers. 
.The same jealous policy which led the Spanish 
Government to cause the coast of Patagonia to be 
surveyed, equally influenced them in withholding 
from publication the results, which remained care- 
fully hid from all inspection in the archives of the 
Viceroyalty, though I cannot but think, had the 
j^eports even of Viedma himself been given to the 
world, -they w^ould have been the best possible se- 
curity to his Catholic Majesty against the curiosity 
or encroachments of foreign nations. Not only did 
they all tend to show that the coast itself was full of 
dangers, but they also proved that the interior of 
the land was,4hroughout, a steril and desolate waste. 



OF ALL PATAGONIA. 73 

scarce of water and vegetation : a region fit enough 
for the wild beasts which had possession of it, but 
very little adapted for the supply of any of the wants 
of man. I cannot conceive what temptations such 
possessions could possibly have offered to any Eu- 
ropean power whatever, nor can it, I think, create 
surprise that Spain herself abandoned themi^ ^ ^^^^^ 

With respect to the fisheries, had there been any 
real spirit of enterprise in the people of Monte Video 
and Buenos Ayres, they might have monopolized 
them ; but no such spirit existed, and they were 
suffered to fall into the hands of the more adven- 
turous sailors of England, North America, and 
France. They equally neglected the importation of 
salt, though a more necessary article to them, per- 
haps, could hardly have been placed within their 
reach ; and after Viedma's voyage it was well known 
that any quantity of it, of an excellent quality, 
could be obtained either at San Joseph's, Port Be- 
sire, or San Julian's. All that was necessary was 
to collect it at the proper season, in the months of 
January, February, and March, when it is hard and 
dry, and consequently in the fittest state for shipping. 

Dean Funes, the historian of Buenos Ayres, 
writing on this subject, cannot suppress his indig- 
nation at the apathy of his countrymen, though he 
attempts, at the same time, to find an excuse for it 
in an observation of Humboldt's with a simplicity 
quite worth quoting. He says — " Who doubts that 
the Spaniards of South America might have carried 



74 APATHY OF THE SPANIARDS. 

oii>'tlfa&e fisheries at infinitely less cost than the 
English and North Americans, when their own 
coasts of Patagonia and round Cape Horn are known 
to abound in whales, even in the harbours, by all ac- 
counts ? But it was not the cost, neither was it the 
want of hands, which caused this important object 
to remain neglected. It was the natural indolence 
of the people and indifference of the Government. 
How, indeed, was it possible," he adds, "to find men 
to follow the hard profession of the sea, amongst a 
people who prefer a hunch of beef to all the com- 
forts of life ? ' The hope of gain,' Baron Humboldt 
observes, * is too weak a stimulus in a climate where 
bounteous nature offers man a thousand ways of 
obtaining a comfortable subsistence without the ne- 
cessity of leaving his native home to go to fight with 
the monsters of the deep.' " snilM-iov 

The Dean was a wise old mail, who knew the 
character of his countrymen thoroughly. Nor are 
his observations confined to the Spaniards of South 
America. Speaking of the ill-success of a company 
in Spain to which the king, in 1790, had conceded 
extraordinary privileges, as an encouragement to 
carry on these fisheries, he sSays^--^^*ItS' continual 
losses, up to the period of its final failure, lead us to 
the conclusion, that projects depending upon intelli- 
gence, economy, and activity, are not made for a 
people notoriously behindhand in information, and 
habitually extravagant and lazy.*' 

Whilst Don Antonio was occupied at San Julian's, 



THE RIO NEGRO SETTLEMENT. 75 

his brother, Don Francisco, was with no less zeal 
laying the foundations of the settlement upon the 
Rio Negro, the only one, as it appeared, of these 
new establishments which was destined to be main- 
tained. 

It certainly possessed many advantages over the 
more southern parts of the coast which had been 
explored. It was not, like San Julian's, a thousand 
miles distant from the governing authorities. Suc- 
cours in case of need could be sent to it by land as 
well as by sea from Buenos Ayres ; and this consi- 
deration alone obviated the strongest objections made 
by the poorer classes to settling themselves perma- 
nently on other parts of the coast. The river itself 
was not only a safeguard against the Indians, but 
fertilized the adjoining lands, and insured to the 
colonists a never-failing supply of fresh water, the 
want of which had caused perhaps the greatest part 
of their sufferings at the other places. 

There were also other motives which operated 
more powerfully than these in determining the 
Spanish Government to maintain a settlement upon 
the River Negro. 

It was by proceeding up this river that Falkner 
supposed a hostile naval power might surprise the 
Spanish territories in the interior and in Chile — a 
notion founded upon the concurrent accounts given 
him by the Indians of the possibility of ascending it 
as far as the Cordillera, and even to Mendoza. If 



76 VILLARINO'S VOYAGE 

these accounts were to 'be depended upon, and such 
a communication were really practicable between the 
shores of the Atlantic and the provinces of Chile, 
and Cuyo, it was impossible to foresee to what im- 
portant consequences it might lead, and how valuable 
(independently of its advantages as a military po- 
sition) might become a settlement which would ne- 
cessarily be the key of that communication. 

To determine a point of so much interest, in a 
geographical as well as political point of view, was 
therefore one of the first objects after the first settlers 
were fairly established ; and an expedition was pre- 
pared x6 explore the river to its sources, and to 
examine its principal affluents. TKe command was 
intrusted to Don Basilio Villarino, a master- pilot in 
the Spanish navy, who had sailed with Piedra in 
1778 ; and had since been the chief practical officer 
engaged in the survey originally undertaken by that 
commander. rn'4ne.iour years which, had elapsed 
smce the commencement oi that service, he had him- 
self examined and laid down the Bays of Anegada 
and of Todos Santos, the bar of the River Negro, 
and the ports of San Antonio, of San Joseph, and 
that to the south called Porto Nuevo. He had also 
surveyed the River Colorado for about seven leagues 
from its mouth. No man, then, in those parts could 
be better qualified for the task, and no expense or 
supply was spared, that he might be furnished with 
everything likely to ensure his success. 



UP THE RIVER NEGRO. 77 

Four large launches (chalupas) were fitted out, 
to which masters, carpenters, caulkers, and ample 
crews were appointed, besides a number of peons 
with horses, who were to attend them along the 
banks of the river to assist in reconnoitring the 
country, and in towing the boats against the stream, 
when contrary winds might prevent their sailing. 

On the 28th September, 1782, they started from 
the settlement of Carmen, and were absent till the 
25th of May following ; and, although on some points 
they did not perhaps realize all the expectations of 
those who sent them, yet they certainly obtained mucli 
new and valuable information, and for the first time 
determined correctly the course of the great river 
they ascended, and proved the possibility of navigating 
it to the very foot of the Andes. 

The heavy Spanish launches unfortunately proved 
ill-calculated for the service, and could make but 
little way with the fairest wind against the force of 
the stream. They were obliged in consequence con- 
tinually to have recourse to the towing-rope, a tedi- 
ous and laborious operation, which occupied them a 
whole month before they reached the great island of 
Choleechel, about seventy leagues, according to their 
daily reckoning, from Carmen. 

This island* (the eastern extremity of which was 



* The Choleechel is not now a single island, but is divided into two 
or three, by branches of the river which intersect it. These channels 
may have been formed since Vallarino's voyage. 



78 VILLARINO'S VOYAGE 

found to be in latitude 39°) is not only one of the 
most remarkable features in the map of the River 
Megro, but is a point of great importance connected 
with the inroads of the Aucazes Indians into the 
Province of Buenos Ayres. It is here that, in their 
journeys from the Cordillera, they leave the course of 
the Negro and strike across to the River Colorado^ 
whence their beaten track runs straight to the moun- 
tain ranges of the Ventana and Vulcan, where they 
pitch their tents, recruit their horses, and watch for 
a favourable opportunity to scour the Pampas, and 
carry off the cattle from the defenceless estancias on 
the frontiers of Buenos Ayres. 

Being at all times greatly encumbered with their 
women, children, and cattle, and having no notion of 
anything like a raft or canoe to facilitate the passage 
of the rivers they have to cross, they are obliged to 
resort to those points where they are fordable, and 
afterwards to follow such routes as will lead them by 
places affording sufficient pasture for the daily main- 
tenance of their horses and cattle. Now, in their 
descent from the Cordillera, their only pass across 
the great River Neuquen is just above its junction 
with the Negro, the course of which they are forced 
afterwards to follow as far as the Choleechel, from 
the impracticability of the country to the north of it, 
and the scarcity of fresh water for their animals. 

The great importance, therefore, of any military 
post at this point, will be at once evident, and Villa- 



UP THE RIVER NEGRO. 79 

rino did not hesitate to give his strong opinion to his 
superiors, that a fort built here, with a small Spanish 
garrison, would be one of the most effectual checks 
upon these savages^ and the best defence for the 
cattle owners of Buenos Ayres. 

After fifty years of further experience, this sug- 
gestion (in 1833) has been acted upon by General 
Rosas, the present Governor, and the Choleechel, 
now called Isla de Rosas, has been occupied as a 
military station. 

After reaching their tracks, it was not long before 
the Spaniards fell iji with a party ^f the Indians 
themselves, travelling by the riv^r's^ side; towards the 
Cordillera. Villarino, anxious to conciliate them in 
order to obtain their aid as he proceeded, was at first 
lavish in his presents to them, particularly of spirits 
and tobacco, which appeared to be the objects most 
in request among them. The more, however, they 
got, the more they wanted ; and upon the first hesita- 
tion to comply with their unreasonable demands, they 
became as insolent as they were importunate. They 
conceived suspicions, too, of the real designs of the 
Spaniards in exploring those parts, and shrewdly 
enough guessed that some more permanent occupa- 
tion of their country was projected — an idea in which 
they were confirmed by the lies of a vagabond who 
deserted to them from the boats, and whose first 
object, of course, was to. sow the seeds of dissension 
between them and his countrymen, in order to facili- 
tate his own escape. 



80 VILLARTNO'S VOYAGE 

Although they dared not openly attack the Spa- 
niards, they soon gave manifest proof of their deter- 
mination to thwart the progress of the expedition by 
every means in their power. Riding on in advance 
of the boats they destroyed the pasturage along shore? 
and, hovering just out of the reach of danger to 
themselves, annoyed the party by all kinds of petty 
hostilities, and kept Villarino in continual alarm for 
the safety of his peons and cattle. 

This conduct on the part of the natives, added to 
the certainty now acquired, that the service would 
be one of much longer duration than had been con- 
templated, made Villarino pause before he proceeded 
further, and finally, determined him to halt where 
he was till he could communicate with Oarmen, 
and receive from thence such further supplies as 
would render him independent for the rest of the 
voyage. 

In passing the Choleechel, he had been much 
struck with a little peninsula, covered with rich 
pasturage, and easily made defensible against the 
Indians ; and thither he now returned to await 
the further assistance he had applied for to his su- 
perior. 

By running a sort of palisade across the narrow 
isthmus which separated their position from the 
main, and landing their swivels from the boats, the 
Spaniards soon formed a little fortification*, perfectly 

* Fort Villarino in the map. 



UP THE RIVER NEGRO. 81 

secure from any sudden attack on the part of the 
Indians, but of them they saw nothing more so long 
as they remained there. 

Six weeks elapsed before Villarino received an- 
swers to his letters, conveying to him the orders of 
Don Francisco Viedma, to proceed with the expedi- 
tion ; but in the interval the river fell so consider- 
ably that Villarino became alarmed (and not, as it 
appeared, without good cause,) lest he should be 
driven into the season when the waters were at their 
lowest, which would greatly add to his difficulties as 
he advanced :— nor was this the worst : — though Don 
Francisco had sent him an ample supply of provi- 
sions and other necessaries for the prosecution of the 
enterprise, he had at the same time peremptorily 
ordered him to send back all the peons wdth their 
horses, under the idea that this would be the surest 
means of obviating any future disputes or collision 
with the Indians. Villarino, without time to remon- 
strate, had no option but to obey this order, though 
he saw at once that it deprived him of his main -stay, - 
and would necessarily very much retard his future 
progress. '^^^ ^-^^^ 

Under these circumstances, on the 20th of Decem- 
ber, the boats once more got under sail to proceed up 
the river. Its winding course rendered the sails of 
little use, and- it was hard work without the horses to 
make way against the force of the stream, the rapi- 
dity of which, as well as the difficulty of getting 
along, was much increased by innumerable small 

G 



82 VILLARINO'S VOYAGE 

islands, which stud the river above Choleechel ; in- 
deed the men were nearly worn out, as might have 
been expected, with the toil of working at the tow- 
ing-rope almost continually. 

In ten days they only advanced twenty-four 
leagues ; they were not then sorry to fall in again 
with some of their fellow-creatures, albeit they were 
Indians, from whom they procured some horses, 
which relieved them from this part of their labour at 
least. They too were journeying westward, and 
much information was obtained from them respecting 
the upper parts of the river which greatly encouraged 
them to proceed, for there seemed little doubt from 
their accounts, that it was navigable to the foot of 
the Cordillera, from whence they might easily com- 
municate with Valdivia. 

^ These Indians were returning to their ordinary 
haunts on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera, over 
against that city, and they readily offered their assist- 
ance to the Spaniards to show them the way over, 
when they arrived at their lands, which they described 
as being near the Huechum-lavquen, or lake of the 
boundary spoken of by Falkner. They said it was 
not more than three days' journey from thence to 
Valdivia, with the people of which it appeared they 
were in the habits of intercourse, and among whom 
thfey found ready purchasers for all the cattle they 
could carry off from the Pampas. Thus it appeared 
that the people of Buenos Ayres might thank their 
countrymen on the shores of the Pacific for a great 



UP THE RIVER NEGRO. 83 

part of the depredations they were continually com- 
plaining of from the hostile incursions of these savages. 

This party was a fair sample of the evil conse- 
quences of such a system. It consisted altogether of 
about 300 people under their caciques, who had left 
their country more than a year before for the sole 
purpose of collecting cattle for the Valdivians ; and 
they were now on their way home with about 800 
head, every animal of which bore a Buenos Ayrean 
mark, and had been stolen from some estancia in 
that province. They were less shy than the Indians 
whom the Spaniards had before fallen in with, and 
so long as they got plenty to eat and drink they 
journied on by the side of the boats in apparent good 
humour, giving such assistance as was in their power, 
and such information as they could with respect to 
the country they passed through. But this did not 
last long; and when after about a fortnight they 
found that Villarino could not afford to make the ca- 
ciques and their wives drunk every day they changed 
their tone, and even went so far as to lay a plot for 
getting the boat's crew on shore on pretence of a 
feast, in order to rob and murder them. Frustrated 
in this by a timely discovery of their treachery, they 
suddenly gallopped off, carrying with them, however, 
two of the men, whom it was supposed, by means of 
their women, they had contrived to inveigle from the 
boats. 

Cunning and treachery, Villarino observes, seem 

G 2 



84 VILLARINO REACHES 

tKe specM' characteristics ofliliese people; thieves by 
habit, pltinder is the object of their lives, and to ob- 
tain it fair means or foul are alike justifiable in their 
eyes. Kindness is thrown aw^y upon them, and 
fear alone seems to have any influence over them 
which cah be calculated upo^j ^*> ^^^>d -^dt 
'"IWtiilWy d^s'froiiit!^ir leaving T^t Villarrao, 
th'^^;^b6to'^M-lVM*dt'the confluence of the River 
Neuquefi, or Sahqiiel-leubu as it is sometimes called 
by the Indians, from the huge canes or reeds which 
overgrow its banks. This river was erroneously 
supposed by Villarino to be the Diamante, and he 
did not hesitate to lay it down as that river, and to 
(feipress his belief that had he gone up it in twenty- 
five days he should have found himself in the pro- 
vince of Mendoza. Subsequent information has cor- 
rected this error, and shown it to be the river iVi^w- 
'^w^>i. Which here joins the Negi'Oj^nd^ which, rising 
R^ little above Antuco/^i^ 'i^erieased by many other 
yireams from the Oorditea^, which subsequently fall 

Villarino was blamed for not exploring this river, 
tertainly 'Bjf far the '^ost^ Wnsiderable afiluent of 
the Negro. He'-feeems to have satisfied himself 
AVith merely ascending it in a little boat for about a 
couple of leagues, which brought him to the place 
where the Indians are in the habit of crossing it, and 
where he doubted whether there was sufficient water 
at the time to allow the launches to go up, though. 



THE RiVER NEUQUEN. S5 

from the vestiges of the floods along shores, it w£^s 
evidently navigable at times for much larger craft. 
His best excuse for not doing more vs^as his anxiety 
to reach the Cordillera before the state of the snow 
should prevent his communicating with Valdivia. 
To make the best of his way onward in that direc- 
tion was now ihis main object; but the difficulties 
he had as yet experienced were nothing to those 
which awaited him in his further progress. The 
horses obtained from the Indians were completely 
worn out, and after passing the Neuquen, the Avhole 
labour of towing the boats along again devolved 
upon the men. 

About a league above the junction of the 
two rivers, the latitude was found to be 38° 44'. 
The course of the Negro shortly afterwards was 
found to incline very much more to the south, appa- 
rently turned off by the prolongation of a chain of 
hills from the north, Avhich equally determines the 
course of the Neuquen higher up, and as far as the 
eye can reach from the point of its junction with the 
Negro. 

Through these hills the Negro has either found, 
or forced a^passage, which on either side is bounded 
by steep, rocky escarpments, rising 500 or 600 feet 
above it ; and here the stream ran with such violence, 
that it was with tlie greatest difficulty the launches 
were dragged on, one by one ; a difficulty further 
increased by the shallowness of the water, which 
made it necessary in many places to deepen the 



86 JUNCTION OF THE LIME-LEUBU 

channel with spades and pick-axes, and to unload 
the boats and carry their cargoes considerable dis- 
tances, before they could proceed*. 

All this caused incredible fatigue to the men, 
unaccustomed to such service, and supported only 
on the dry and salt provisions they had with them. 
Their legs became swelled with working for days 
together in the water, and they were covered with 
sores from the bites of the flies and musquitos which 
hovered in clouds above its surface. The scurvy 
broke out, and some of them became seriously ill : 
fortunately they fell in with some apple-trees, the 
fruit of which was a great comfort to the sick ; but 
the snow-capped peak of the Cerro Imperial, as 
well as the whole range of the Cordillera, was now 
in full view before them ; and the hope of being 
soon in communication with Valdivia gave them 
fresh courage, and redoubled their exertions to reach 
their journey's end. 

Two whole months were spent in making a dis- 
tance of forty-one leagues from the Neuquen. This 
brought them, on the 25th of March, to the foot of 
the great range of the Cordillera, and to an island 
about a mile and a half long, where the main stream 
was found to be formed by two distinct rivers, there 
uniting from opposite directions ; the one coming 
from the south, the other from the north. 

* The river was probably unusually low even for the season ; for 
Villarino observes in this part of his journal, that it was nearly five 
months since they had had a rainy day. 



AND CATAPULICHE RIVERS. 87 

As they knew by their latitude, which a little be- 
fore reaching this point they had found to be 40° 2' S., 
that they were already to the south of Valdivia, Vil- 
larino had no hesitation as to which of these rivers 
he should attempt to ascend. Before going on, 
however, he determined on giving the men a day or 
two'^ rest, of which he availed himself to make a 
short excursion in his little boat up the southern 
fork, which turned out to be a river of some magni- 
tude. 

At its mouth, he says, even at that time, when 
the waters were at their lowest, it was about 200 
yards across, and about five feet in depth ; its course 
from the S. S. W., running with much velocity through 
a deeply-cut channel over a bed of large rounded 
stones : the country, as far as could be seen, was a 
desolate mass of gravel. Some little w^ay up, they 
found the burial-place of an Indian cacique, over 
which two stuffed horses were stuck upon stakes, 
according to their custom ; further on, the shore was 
strewed with trunks of many large trees brought 
down by the floods ; they were of various sorts, but 
principally pine and cedar, probably the same as 
is shipped in large quantities from the opposite 
side of the Cordillera, and from Chiloe, for other 
parts of Chile and Peru. From the Indians they 
subsequently learned that dense forests of these 
trees were to be met with higher up the river. 
How valuable they would be to the settlers on the 
Rio Negro, and how easily they might be floated 
down to them ! 



88 SOURCE OF THE LIME-LEUBU. 

Villarino named this river the Rio de 'la Encar- 
nacion. By the Indians, it is called Lime-leubu, or 
the river of leeches : indeed they call the main stream 
so, during its whole course to the junction of the 
Neuquen ; after which, they give it the appellation 
of Curi-leuhu, the River Negro. They described 
it as proceeding from the great lake of Nahuel-huapi,* 
where^ in the year 1704, the Jesuits established a 
mission, which was afterwards destroyed by some 
hostile savages, and the Fathers murdered. The 
vestiges of their habitations and chapel still remain, 
and that part of the country is called by the Indians 
Tuca-malal, probably from some allusion to the 
ruins ; the inhabitants call themselves Huilliches, or 
the southern people. Through them, to Villarino's 
surprise, the Pehuenches Indians, whom he shortly 
afterwards fell in with, had already received accounts 
of the establishment of the Spaniards at San Ju- 
lians ; the news had doubtless been carried to them 
by the friendly Indians, with whom Viedma had 
been in communication at that place, and whom 
he speaks of in his diary as having gone northward 
on an expedition which lasted four months, to buy 
horses from the Indians in that direction. 

But if the Spaniards were surprised to hear these 
people speak of their countrymen at San Julians, 600 
miles off, they were much more so, to be asked by 
them if the war between Spain and England was over. 
In this, however, it turned out that they had a more 
direct interest than might have been expected ; cer- 

* Nahuel-huapi signifies the Island of Tigers according to Falkner. 



THE CATAPULICHE RIVER. 89 

tain articles of European manufacture which they 
had been in the habit of purchasing from the Val- 
divians having become scarce and dear, from the 
interruption of the trade of that place with Spain in 
consequence of the war. Who would have supposed 
that the Indians of Araucania could have known or 
cared whether England and Spain were at war or not ? 

Having taken this cursory view of the Encarnacion, 
Villarino returned to continue his voyage up the 
northern branch of the Negro, which is called the 
Catapuliche by the Indians. It would perhaps be 
more correct to consider, as they do, the Encarnacion 
as the upper part of the Negro, and the Catapuliche 
as an affluent joining it from the opposite direction. 
Its shallowness prevented their making much way 
up it ; after much labour and difficulty, in twenty 
days they had only advanced ten leagues, and then 
all hope of getting further was at an end. This was 
on the 17th of April, when they were in latitude 39° 
40', over against Valdivia. 

The Catapuliche runs along the base of the Cor- 
dillera, distant five or six miles ; it is joined by 
several streams from the mountains, which irrigate 
the intervening slopes and plains, and form good 
pasture-grounds for the Indians ; and here they 
found their old acquaintances, who had run away 
from them lower down the river ; and who, nothing: 
abashed by what had passed, came at once to the 
boats to beg for spirits and tobacco. 

VillarinO; restraining his indigoation at their 



90 A DISPUTE AMONG THE INDIANS 

effrontery, renewed his intercourse with them in the 
hope of obtaining their assistance in reaching Val- 
divia ; which, by their accounts, was not more than 
two or three days' journey distant across the moun- 
tains. Deputations arrived also from the Pehu- 
enches, and Aucazes, Araucanian tribes in the 
neighbourhood, who showed a great readiness to be 
of' any use ; — they brought the Spaniards fruit and 
other necessaries^, and everything promised a speedy 
realization of their wishes to be placed in communi- 
cation in a few days with their countrymen on the 
shores of the Pacific. At the moment, however, 
when they were looking forward to the speedy ac- 
complishment of this object, their hopes were blasted 
by an unlucky quarrel amongst the Indians them- 
selves, in which one of their principal caciques, 
Guchumpilqui, was killed. His followers rose to 
avenge his death, and Chulilaquini, the chief who 
killed him, fled with his tribe to the Spaniards, ear- 
nestly soliciting their protection ; to obtain which the 
more readily, he told a plausible story of a general 
league being formed amongst the Indians to attack 
them on the first favourable opportunity, and that it 
was in consequence of his refusal to join in this coa- 
lition, that the dispute had arisen which cost Guch- 
umpilqui, the principal in the plot, his life. As this 
Guchumpilqui was the leader of the tribe they had 
met with on the Rio Negro, whose manoeuvres had 
already impressed Villarino with the belief that he 
meditated some such treachery, he was quite pre- 



TERMINATES^THE EXPEDITION. 91 

pared to credit' (Dhulilaquini's tale ; and thinking it at 
any rate advisable to secure the kid of; some of the 
savages, he too readily promised him the protection 
he asked for. This brought the expedition to an end. 
As soon asiiife- was known that the Spaniards were 
disposed to take the part of Chulilaqnini, they were 
regarded as* declared' eneiiiies^ and preparations were 
made to attdok them. The Indians were bent on 
avenging the death ^ of Wieir chief, and it was soon 
evident that, as to communicating with the Valdi- 
vians under the circumstances, it was out of the 
question. After some fruitless efforts, at any rate, to 
get a letter conveyed across the mountains, Villarinor 
was reluctantly obliged to make up his mind to re- 
turn. Since entering the Catapuliche, much snow 
and rain had fallen, which had increased its depth as 
much as three or' four feet : it had become in fact a 
navigable rivi^r, diistead of a shallow stream. Their 
Indian allies helped them to lay in a stock of apples, 
of which there are great quantities in all those parts, 
and of pifiones, the fruit of the pine-tree, which, 
taken out of the husk, is not unlike a Barbary date 
in taste as well as appearance ; and with these sup- 
plies they once more got under weigh, the swollen 
stream carrying them down rapidly and safely over 
all the shoals and dangers which had cost them so 
much toil and difficulty to surmount as they went up ; 
the land too, had put on a new appearance after the 
rain, and many places which appeared arid and steril 
wastes before, were now covered with green herbage. 



92 VILLARINO'S RETURN. 

With little more than an occasional oar to keep them 
in the mid-stream, they went the whole way down 
to Carmen without th^ smallest obstruction, and 
arrived there in just three weeks from the time of 
leaving the Catapuliche, after an absence altogether 
of eight months. Thus it was proved to be perfectly 
practicable to pass by this river from the shores of 
the Atlantic to within fifty or sixty miles of Val- 
divia on the Pacific, the mountain-range alone inter- 
vening. 

To what beneficial account this discovery of an 
inland water communication across the continent 
might in the last fifty years have been turned by an 
enterprizing people, it is difficult to calculate. The 
Spaniards seemed rather desirous to conceal than to 
publish the fact of its existence. Till the expe- 
dition of General Rosas in 1833, against the Indians^ 
no boat ever again went up the Negro higher than 
Choleechel ; and but that I obtained possession of 
Villarino's Diary during my residence at Buenos 
Ayres, and published the substance of it in the 
" Journal of the Geographical Society, " his enter- 
prize would probably have been consigned to per- 
petual oblivion. 

Chulilaquini followed the boats, and settled his 
people within reach of his Spanish friends, in the 
neighbourhood of Carmen ; but the Indians, in gene- 
ral, looked upon the new settlement with the greatest 
jealousy, and became extremely troublesome. 

In this state of things, Don Juan de la Piedra, 



WAR WITH THE INDIANS. 93 

who it has a'] ready beeo stated w^s originally sent 
from Spain to take command of the establishments 
in Patagonia, and who had never ceased to remon- 
strate against the act of the Viceroy, which deprived 
him of that command, was reinstated by orders from 
the government at home ; and proceeded in conse- 
quence to the Rio Negro, to resume his functions 
as principal Superintendent (1785) : over-anxious, 
perhaps, after what had passed, to distinguish him- 
self, instead of making any attempt to conciliate the 
Indians, he boasting] y took the field, and advanced 
into their lands to attack them, with a force totally 
inadequate to the purpose : the consequence was, 
that he was surrounded and totally defeated. He 
himself perished miserably, and several officers fell 
into the hands of the savages : happily for them, 
feome relations of the victors were at the same time in 
the power of the Viceroy, and the hope of recovering 
them by exchange, induced the savages for once to 
save the lives of their prisoners. 

Amongst them was Don Leon Ortiz de Rosas, 
father of the present Governor of Buenos Ayres, then 
a Captain in the King's service, who turned his cap- 
tivity to such good account, that he not only succeeded 
in an extraordinary degree in conciliating the respect 
and good will of the principal Caciques, but finally 
brought about a peace between them and the Vice- 
roy, which lasted many years, and deservedly esta- 
blished the celebrity of the name of Rosas through- 
out the pampas. 



94 PRESENT STATE OF THE 

The Spanish governmeiit for' kshoi-ttMe took some 
interest in the establishment on thie- Negro: — up- 
wards of 700 settlers were sent there from Gallicia, 
and large sums were spent upon it ; but the expecta- 
tions formed of its importance were not realized. 
The colonists remained satisfied to carry on a petty 
traffic with the Indians for skins, instead of launch- 
ing out upon the more adventurous speculation of the 
fisheries upon the coast, and the authorities at Buenos 
Ayres, finding them more expensive than useful, be- 
came indifferent about them, and allowed them to 
sink into the insignificance of a remote and unprofit- 
able colony. 

Thus, in 1825, when the war between Buenos 
Ayres and Brazil broke out, there were hardly 800 
inhabitants. The blockade of the river Plate made 
it then a resort for the privateers of the Republic, and 
once more brought it into notice. A small coasting 
trade is now carried on with it^ and many seal-skins 
are collected there to be sent to Buenos Ayres, as 
w^ell as those of the guanaco, hare, skunk, and other 
animals, brought in by the Indians from the deserts 
further south : it has of late years also furnished oc- 
casional supplies of salt for the Saladeros of Buenos 
Ayres. 

Had the government of Buenos Ayres been able to 
exercise any efficient superintendence over the adjoin- 
ing coast, the fishery of seals, and seal elephants, 
might have become of importance ; but in the ab- 
sence of all control, the unrestrained and indiscrimi- 



SETTLEMENT ON THE NEGRO. 95 

nate slaughter of tlie young as well as of the old 
animals has driven them from their former haunts 
further south, where they are still found by the Eng- 
lish and North American fishermen, who know their 
rookeries, as they are called ; and in the proper sea- 
son, take them in great numbers. 

The Governor of Carmen is an officer appointed 
from Buenos Ayres, to the Junta of which province 
the inhabitants name a representative. 



96 
CHAPTER VIII. 

SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES IN THE INTERIOR. 

Malaspina Surveys the Shores of the Rio de la Plata in 1789. 
Bauza maps the Road to Mendoza : De Souillac that to Cordova. 
Azara, and other Officersj in 1796, fix the positions of all the 
Forts and Towns in the Province of Buenos Ayres. Don Luis 
de la Cruz crosses the Pampas, from the frontiers of Concep- 
tion in Chile to Buenos Ayres, in 1806. Attempt at a new 
delineation of the Rivers of the Pampas from his Journal. His 
account of the Volcanic appearances along the Eastern Andes. 
Sulphur, Coal, and Salt found there, also Fossil Marine Re- 
mains. The Indians of Araucanian origin : Habits and Cus- 
toms of the Pehuenciiy<=> .8^*1 1^ 8Qll9tJi.U'« i.' 

Piedra's orders confine^^ .)^^,,,|0|jljl^e east jCpast of 
Patagonia, as lias ibeen, shovi^n.j ^.i^ tlie preceding 
chapter ; but in 1789 Spain sent forth an expedition 
of much more importance, especially in a scientific 
point of view.* ,,.<-.. r 

The ships employed were the Atrevida and Des- 
cuUerta, under the command of the well-known 
Malaspina, who.^n,9t only revised Piedra's and Vied- 
m^'|Lj J surveys of Patagonia, i^ l]|u|j^, rounding Cape 
fjprn, explored the greater part of the coast of 
tl]^e|Pac^fic,jii*^m j^^j. ei^tre^gip ,tp the Russian 

?-»f^*Thfe oftly authentic hotice \vhich'I belitv^'lik'^ as yet appeared 
off this important voyage is the very brief one attached to the " Col- 
lection of Astronomical Observations by Spanish Navigators," pub- 
lished by Don Jose Espinosa, chief of the Hydrographical Depart- 
ment of Madrid, in 1809. 



malaspina's charts. 97 

settlements in the north-west. Malaspiria, upon his 
return, was thrown into a dungeon and deprived of 
his papers, — why, has never transpired ; nor was it 
till several years afterwards that those admirable 
charts, the results of his labours, were published by 
order of Langara, the Spanish Minister of Marine, 
which have since been so useful to modern navi- 
gators in the South American Seas, and will long 
be an honour to the Spanish navy. Malaspina's 
name, however, was not permitted to be affixed to 
them, neither has the journal of his voyage ever 
been published. 

It is only very recently that the details have been 
discovered at Buenos Ayres of the first portion of 
his work, viz., the survey, in 1789, of the whole of 
the northern and southern shores of the Plate, as 
high up as the Parana, in which nearly 150 points 
were fixed by him. In the Appendix all those of 
any importance will be found, iw a tabular form, 
together with other positions, determined on good 
authority. 

It was this survey, with the soundings afterwards 
taken by Oyarvide (who lost his life in completing 
them), that furnished the materials for the chart of 
the river Plate, officially published at Madrid in 
1810 : nor was this all that Buenos Ayres owed to 
Malaspina : upon his return to Valparaiso from the 
northwest coast, he detached two of his most intel- 
ligent officers, Don Jose Espinosa, and Don Felipe 
Bauza, well known in this country, to map the road 

H 



98 FDSITiONS FIXED BT TT 

of^S^ti^Q/yg Cbiiteiitf M^fijdo^fe SanlJaBife, the post 
qI Giilijern^ ^VJ?M3ft^;trteefoT^*<ifei*o^^itjoffler .points 
£^l^:«igii|iftrM^tJwri»gseicft)?^'6*e ^Jfirg^timer determined *:, 
Tlieifi.f^ml^,ti$®oSMf§i^JliitxifiiMs^ %.ilie -.best, and' 
the only oj^iioWitbafe l^ifet)M[($|oti*i*yidb)helieve, ever 
^awiDJpy^jB^neo'fcaipgdbtefofi ta-ynggfei'ioteervation.* 
;t8cSF^ibt titlayiw^re ^tojeD^^ed)ito(:%iafe jone part^ 
€^ilh^ f^Qgj*^plJ(pi^^ue£i8terlt)i^>iBe,3¥dfcei»y turned^ 
%|);MCQeat/ tljaiitemporaiylsojmiifeBialMuenos Ayres^ 
of some of^-the «^officers attachrfdlKq tifife commission-; 
for laying down the boiHidatie^fim(Bi ^te .treaty ofl 
1777 with Portugal, and einpi(fyejil theaii in map>7 
pipg otljer portions of the teraiitai'ygiihdcav his im- 
ipediate jurisdiction. ujS itB 1^9^ Uds D&aail 

t, In, 1794 M. Sourreyere de'^^aflfec, ^tfe^ srslroeFi 
^pmer of the third division ofi ti^^rcommission^. 
l^id down ijie Jin^ of road, front \Bii^Bofe:Ayres to/ 
Cordova, and fixed the latitude 6£jilfit city int 
31°;2^s^W.8i6w eldfiukv i9V9Wod Jlfi isfifi ,iijU 
ylJEi.l79^t_A^ftras^L^ilh J^rfw^rohdb (gdnfete ?)fficei'ST 
eS^^f4ij9nfeih^^^Qli©M)S^l9^if'efin«j$dfe9fe ^/Mailed sur- 
W .^£ib^f^^^to^^<^S<^^P^^^J**^^^fi'%^^os Ayres, 
iWittl\^9^©ftJ^i^ fe^i^nlhejsAMdeliijelpositions 4>f 
^^i4feebt^F#s[#M^fr|jrfjotia&^Ite^gahce'^ 
LnicioIoD lod .sqo'ma ni 8i9woq ;fr.3'i^ sdi nso,; \t3Ci no 
* Carita .esfericf (kpl^ p^ffte iitenor der^h,"x4rmerie|[* Mf fidioftal prfi'st ' 
manifestar el camino que conduce desde Valparaiso a Buenos Ayres 
construida por las observaciones astronomieas que hicieron en estas 
partes en 1794 Don Jos6 de Espinosa y Don Felipe Bauza, Oficiales 
d^.ja.^ Jieal Arinada,^-eii l^ dir^eqion hidrografica, aiio 1810. 



ASTRONOMIGAL tyBSEMVATION. 99 

Melinque, i?t^ liofetlT-Wi^stigrn extremity, and'tle iH<!>ist5 
southern ben3. of the river Salado, beyond Chas-* 
comus. That river they found to have its origin in» 
a lake in latitude 34° 4' A5'\ longitude from Buenos 
Ayres 3° 36' 32^' ; it is an insignificant stream, o^ 
trivial importance till joined by the Flores. > ^"^d^ 

Thus materials were collected for laying doWK^'ii 
considerable portion of country upon the very best 
authorities ; but, like the surveys of the coast, many 
years were snfFered to elapse ere they were nmde- 
available to the public. Bauza's map was not pufc- 
lished till 1810, and it was: i)niy in 1822 thatltb^ 
positions fixed b^^ Azara in 1796 appeared for thi 
first time as his fn«ithe /' Statistical Register," pub4 
lished that year at Buenos Ayreg. De Souillac's 
might have i^maintd :unkiK)wn for ever, had not 
Senor de Angelas lately brought them to light; as 
well as MalaspMa's^6f'ii^d^iI^ints dn^fe 
the River Flatdy abniiifd Q£h bsxS has ^i^vobioQ 

But, after all, however valuable were»^^s#^al§ 
in perfecting a' knowledge rif the cou^tf^afrgfey 
occupied^ they led to no new discoveries, and by W' 
the greater part of the interior of the continent, to 
Ife agoutboqf the Plate, remainM toiMpored/^ ^iffl 
Spain becoming involved in the generar war carri^tf 
on between the great powers in Europe, her colonial 
subjects on the shores of the Pacifi(3 began to ex- 
perience more or less inconvenience from the stop-^ 
page of their ordinary trade. They found that the 
ships which used to visit them direct from Europe 

h2 



100 CRTO*SJOUENEY ACROSS 

%F \^iM?^%f^p3l^^ ]l?to >fte,,rfyer Plate, rather 

i^^^^^go^l^^^v^^'^^^^^ risk of capture in the 

longer voyage roun(r Cape Horn ; ajid rit, became 

therefoi'e to them an obiect of eonsiaerable import- 

ance to shorten, if pos^^ible, 4ne jOverland journey 

from thence to the opposite side^of .the continent, 
nx l)yjD8' ' jimfHnsiu of 3;tBfliidfni ot noia^pao 




!feS8JF^Hted# which was, the ^ccr^rv^ several 
new- passes over the Cordillera, south oi Mendoza, 

las JD^-nia^, was, exammed 

ho 

repor^d ^^hat at a very small expen'se it might be 
made practicable for the passa2:e of ^wneel-carriafijes. 
K only remained to be shown whether or not it was 
possible to travel in a direct line across the pampas 





dians 

of Conc^ation, : the most southern of the passes yet 
known, Jo endeavour to reach Buenos Ayres by a 
^raight e<^u^|^gj^(^, th^^ganfga|^^^his proposal 

g^|jv^jjri|)^s, w^iglj^/gn^eed was absolutely necessary 
^p thesiiccess of Jhe undertaking, the Caciques of 
the Pehuenches, who inhabited the country on the 
eastern slopes of the Cordillera, were summoned to 



THE SOUTHERN PAMPAS. 101 

hold a grand parlamento, or parley, to consider it. 
There had been long a ^friendly intercourse between" 
them and the Spaniards, who, moreover, had at times 
afforded them protection from the attacks of their 
enemies ; they therefore did not hesitate on this 
occasion to intimate to them that they expected in 
return all the good offices and aid which they couM 
give to Cruz and his party. ... t 

They attended at the time' appointed, anS atter'S 
grave discussion after thfeir fashion, which lasted 
several days, they agreea to take the expedition 
under their particular protection, and see it safe to 
Buenos Ayres ; Cruz, on his part, engaging that 
flie Indians who accompanied him should be pre- 
seiited to the Viceroy, rewarded with suitable pre- 
sents, and sent back in safety to their friends at the 
conclusion of the service. This pact was ratified 
with much formalitv ; the hand of Cruz being so- 
femnly placed ir^if^ W^^ie SMM'^lf^e 
Caciques, to signify^ tnat iIlenceiorwaTO^'lie was 
under nis special care. 

a couple of days in an unsuccessful attempt to get ta 
the summit (h the^ydfcano m tSl^i?cinity of Antucoi 
trhich he describes as being then *in MiM&l action*, 
and at times burning so strong^ is to be visible 



from a very considerable distan(5&f but he was 
stopped, and obliged to turn back, by a heavy fall 
of rain and snow, considered by the Indians as an 
interposition of the Deity to prevent the examination 



1^ aim*f UCO KW-TMELINQU^. 

pliJIifegiSn vihivklkhep'hel±Mi tbjteijforbidden to 
moi^tak to approach.ii bdiqmsiiB mM I dmhr mo-il 
nimn^m '^th ofuApHif (3i8Q§$[ii^ibeji^dieaxiy, the 
^atfly leM^tim^Mt lerffiBallenar, ifear Antuco, to com- 
hieQ«(BOx^el0'jjofiafney/ It consisted of twenty per- 
soins^ wzt, ^Ciiiz and four officers^ a surveyor to 
Measiiref the daily rdilstitnces, and.ififlfefiBMttendants, 
beside^ their I ndian escort ; having witk them carts 
i^rid'^cirges^lnd all things they nrighfe^M^t on the 
way. Striking across the panipa>^rifc d-Si direct a 
course for Buenos Ayres as the naturfr?af #fe country 
would permit, in forty-seven days they arrived at 
Melinqu^,* the north-western frontier fort of that 
province, having travelled, according to their mea^ 
sured daily journeys, rather niore than 166 leagues ; 
—adding 68 more for the distance between Melinque 
and Buenos Ayres, made the rtotal distance from 
Antu6^ tt)' tfe(at ^oity, by this routej 234 leagues,; 
^i^being 75 less ^iMihtfte^oirditikrjr/.'ptofet-road froit> 
Buenos Ayres to Mendoza. .sin^m/JiQ 9xlt 

The narrative \^Eich Cruzfisufes^lDaaatiy; dreW^up 
of this expedition is extremelyydi^u^ei ^©d would be 
^resonie to most readers fit-oni the ^x^trefrie- minuteness 
with which he has th(Mgfa^dMittstesQiiary to; detail the 
daily discussions ^A^l^^^lh^k eafliiicfo^ hug^nrj m&f$ 
trivial occurrence, tooW^M^Miihiiimlw&ns. < j 

In a geographical pbITt of ^igW,''the^Aiost interest- 
ing part of it is that in which he describes the rive|^ 

Imbiii'KT 3ib hni> ,8af£f/ja wuj fP». i>. \U 
* Position of Melinque fixed by Azara, lat. 33° 42' 24'^, long, from 

Buenos Ayres 3° 30' 38". 



RIVERS OF T^Hf: PAMPAS. 103 

which b^ {ii'©isfeedt atfte&rf dfes^eridiE% (the -Goi'diillera ; 
from which I have attempted in sthe map to giile an 
idea of th^i^diflfori^gpc^^) \Mk kel^eexi^ &om^1^at 
hitherto ado|)te1i. In this I have been aBo much 
guided by ^the observations, in my possession, of 
the late I^. ^Crillies, my cbrjhesponderit fojr many 
yeai*s at 'M8ftd6ih,biwhQF;9had himself been as far 
south as Mieftiw^iiDialnafcite, and had taken great 
jjains to c<sIJecfclinfon^ation respecting the geography 
of that part of the country. 

The old notion was, that nearly all the rivers 
south of ']\^ett&og^^ tmiting in one wide stream, to 
which the Diamante, as one of the plinfc^ipal , afll M 
ents, gave ^ts mame> mn direct^ st^uthvinto theiRiq 
Negro; atid! this, as I have mentioned in the pre?? 
ceding chapter^^ was Villarino's idea, and led him, 
without h^itatiitxn, to believe that the great river^ 
whose mouth h)duexpl©«j[^dy,fei^d which, he says, h^ 
does not deilds(q\vi0tiJdih-aye9ledxlji](|i feji^^o^a, was 
the Diamante. J5sobni>M o) so-jyA 8on9jjS[ 

From g[fesB5f)ftic«kan:anat)orij«fl^r^^ifj(^^l|ia^'pid 
other datdiii iny/pcfes^isianyitl:^^ fl^ti^fe4^^A*^^'> 
fee foundnt(^viteiajB aafi-anp-^iriioibil jyte[i^9<:i§^(?M^ 
which flow^ ^iiuk^d93an:NegrfgM)dtfi§j8lS^@tfq#^^^ 
Grxm crossed cfe^Ae sii^^th^^yb^ei^fJ^^l^P^^tpcof,^ 
at the rpMcrel caIiedtiKi^©jgi^g^io<S^^oab<?^t eighteei^ 
eagues^ d^dftiaiQo^iWSfey'io ifffe^ I^ei5,f uen* is formed 
by many ^#js^Ffr4j)!^irf^h#r ^art of the Cordillera,' 
all which Cruz names, and the principal of which 

* Neuquen or Nehuen signifies the rapid rtiv^i*, acijqydilig taAnJ* 
selis. 



104 31Mig^E1&QUEN AND COIX)IlAD©H 

tte<lr]^)ih^^i0f Mi^aMiea^Jaqd ^(Kfeenaaorth the 

s(Paa4iSfei$ftug9ttec[(i¥aiaujd^i5$feii^^ No 

one, he says, doubts that the Neuquen, from the 

J^gtl^A ^J^sttiw Gx$JM8liPi8is(piaa%Ll%iiasofaE as 

th©g86^^^#^ gaidiJlte^tei^iotiseBoaato, udu^l-udoD 

£iOL^^^mng^M)el^kM^(^^f^yldam^on, Cruz fell 

ltenMtfe91S«o^teytfe^feld^raMM3[i^ir,9aklai!ge, he says, 

tfiP^jh^ A^queh, calleditfjzfQffeiftlMisaiiHMe Cobu^ 

^$fit * whose soured =tIite^orepaitedritood)e in the 

t€te^illera of Curriliquinjco^feK^gaj^taCtee province 

trfhMaule, in Chile ; and^h(ByiisJ)otof^ie9i^Bn rivers 

^M3^ fell into it in its ^eBffsesfwstoltHfeHJtirth to the 

^lace where the expeditibrsf^irdsifeid) ilrl;^jjd@ruz says 

distinctly it does not fall mimlth^fiMet^quen, but, 

i^anging its southerly course about xvhere they 

^ssed it, it ran eastward, in which direction the 

%^gLv6fl^is kept it in view, at tferiefeaftasting it, for 

y^~^i^l sdajfe^/ tiiiB^^^n^ace calMsFoia^ it again 

^tti*ned towards tlie south, taking thejic^ (as the In- 

^ans affirm ed>'4^s jaour§e:'jfe)iith«ii^8. Y^^^ river, 

Msere can-^iter4s3> t^5iyul9£> ldl6tta9iWBr^de;rtKeo§olorado, 

c^hich falk plirfs(Jife Ifesfoidlfttid tbiiiiHstboBth of the 

a^ioil^Je^o^d^ o:r aairiBo doidw ^oish^ugfigsOL sAi 

ai &Pfia^^fyi^M^iSofi4%efffla'-fflleQk wbr^dfound to 

ilm t63iB sdi ni Mu8l-i! ^^ - 1: 7 

* Although in the copy of Cruz's MS. in my possession, as well as 
in Senor de Angelis's collection, the Hatne t)f ^Ifis nyer is written 
Co^M-leubu ; I suspect it to be an erroneous writing for CoZw-leubu, 
^bich signifies the great river. I believe this the more, as I find 
that people who have journeyed south from Mendoza speak of it 
(at l«ast of what I suppose to be the upper part of the same river) as 
the Rio Grande. .< .iiiix) .iQ ^d auk . 



THE CIE^DrrLEUB^ itND DIAMANTE. 105 

extend itbsM) tferiflkagues beyond the f^m Qforf^e 
:<Lbbu^leATi^dbo]^e Bpeken of, after whicli tfeeixpa^i- 
pus comn^encM^iHkiqhi^MMifi^mfiiiUnbroken to Buenos 

^ Two da5M.^:eBf5)t§sid^gfKlietefQwtoift^ the river 
Cobu-leubu tafeaDaegQutherly coufci^ ^^fe^ing gone 
about seventyrfoTifcleagues by theii:Bdftil|rfi^®i^iitst|;ion 
from Antucts,' thae.tBaYelJers reached the river called 
by the IndmnslCHad^i-leubu, or the Salt River (pr%- 
Jaably a contiiiuation of the Atuel), which, uniting 
mith. the Desaguadero, or Drain of the Diamante, 
siibont five leagues below where they crossed it, dis*. 
charges itself into a vast iafce- ebout ten leagues 
further south, called by the Indians the Urre-laur 
^uen, or the -batter lake io^t ^m"^ ^s y o 

^ In old times, according td-Dn Gillies, the Dia- 
anante, which he says rises from the eastern base of 
Cauqueni^ Peak TM the CiordiHera, fell into the 
Atuel a little below Fort San Rafael, where it will 
be seen on reference to the map that the two rivers 
very nearly approximate ; but about twenty-five 
years ago iti teokiaisjfeher course, forming for itself 
a separateodiaao&iiGll b|jj#hich it discharges itself into 
the Desaguadero, which carries to the south the 
waters of the rJi>^i^j"T*Wiuiyan aiwi: M^ and is 

finally lost with the Chadi-leubii in the great salt 

* The track laid down on the map from Fort San Rafael along the 
northern bank of the Diamante, to its junction with the Desaguadero, 
and thence southward into the Indian territory, was fixed by compass, 
and given me by Dr. Gillies. 



J)iiTbQiCfhMi-feMi|^/ia(S3fiEifdiiigI*^^ 
-tifi^iriifetgi««9ea*fr^i^ fafubhfemksilife Eadlyet pissed. 
iPietp©ii)pte(|tad hritsdscix^seitiddffswiinthiDg, and tlie 
<ita^gE^e wa^iiedrried)iOM4r iifei a IjeMj afjsoi4 of hide- 
graft. It farmed? frtii€ffbotiiidair5nfdfitfa«I:tla^ds of the 
aBehuenches, khA>inaj^OTeVe etfe ideftafcesiiwhich en- 
igued amongkj iOni^lBr lBdianDtebni^aa(ioiiHijas. to the 
^i^obable vie^^i^At^hidbJtberfa'ibe&in^^be paippas beyond 
^uld take (^ithaexpeditasxA. gaib^ivt 8biijm£*j8 bdi 
One day it was the dream of some old wohr^, 
ibother, Ihei ai^aqy lofiia spdthsayca^v i:hat excited 
^heir doubts and^ilaxxm^ landa i^d^fe ith em. hesitate 
^as to the pmpii«d^ij©f)6ffdtia)l'i^fc9n^ii<Hi{J-\vith the 
Spaniards. In tl:|ekI;teM)«aiJassdcidH^//hiitYever, they 
made a notable discb^5^Jj3yfhidIkhwa^iBffit»ther than 
that Cruz held constant ct>raittnbriJaii!6*ivmffli a spirit 
which directed him imnalhiid* opigwea^^difigs :-— ^he 
,:togi observed continually to ^fiKggJtatgit^nand the 
gpifev which was his wateli^ija^a^ bd^iii to give 
Jeoa* ^Bi-taiaitiixysterious sounds s^dffsJeYferiicfcLnsultedi. 
Cruz had no desire to deeeiijQ^thaasijSiib the im^ 
^Dej^itoseapiaatj t®ilb€^ig©J[/i3)fli(d&cpM^^f(Wfiis so far 
K&fiw^lMfaiifoifiispijMit^mi i^iifedTi^fdh^jeeiirage to 
^iiHipnoooB hml odw gflfiibal 1o \i'i£q sucnsmuii s 
nr ^iiKai delferiaijiM/iiiftftosmttdat) ^^fes^tetion, t# 
sseadofbinmard^yM sendiis^xl^k ^tol<Cadp«^ of the 
^Bi^«[efes£trjteF(i^hsbilk^ ite tte^ipMnpitrtS beyond, 
and espeeially^dtt) ^?G)aa'ripiiuiJt 4iiefT?«€^st influential 
amongst them,, to announce] /il^^^l approach of the 
expedition, and its peaceable objects, and to en- 
deavour to propitiate them beforehand in its favour. 



CRUZ REACHES MELINQUll. 107 

Fortunately,;£^i©ri|alTiki]ft' rwas^^^^ in fjgiood Jbuiti^imi'tnd, 
in the bel5«f I tkiat he should get presentsrdbjn^fch 
portion to I ithe i iBiportanoe of the expediti^an, Ml 
only received them with honour, but resolved to 
accompany them himself to Buenos Ayres, where 
Cruz assured* <hife tlie Viceroy would welcome his 
arrival, audi be- glad Ttateiifcer into treaties with him 
for opening: a;^ oeh^^i road through his territories for 
the Spaniards trading between Buenos Ayiras;;an4 
tChile. '' ^ 3008 lo uiii-jiu • ji '^ioD oi'O 

fv In twenty^ipsdftajgB after pas^isgsithqidQteiiiii- 
leubu, and in ^rkji-sfevBn after Iheimdepfctibiafce -felfji 
AntuGo; Tthfc'ti^ed^r&jarkdvied at ^ifqcfe^f MfelinqiiC 
on the noirtb^w^sfe i£KHEtifi(rd(ajfi9thB8|f#0T?aIice, sif iBuenos 
Ayres ; wlifii^i^wM:^ Wtiii^dasifeftfeikfdhemseive^^ 
and to alfow tli^ihdiaiiaiio JttrfjfehraiebMiriJsafei afo- 
rival, aceordin^xdfo their icusikoiiipibllfeatetiyiBruhkeBp- 
3afess,'«om^'istcdggSBg s<i)ldiers, flying frooi^the ix)ut, 
brought iniihe disastrateiinteffi^eBJGWofldferlaadiQ^ 
df the Bfiti^atrofaps mndeB QmmmlMBm^&r^ and 
4iie fail afjBueiKofcAyfes^b oj o-ndoh on b^d suiC* 
The dism^rltifi.p^i©rafl'gifedllw)d iiaB3^)ecte[diiiiteI|- 
ligenee -rJ^tyfib^ifeaiiryr iffla^infeskiqgEhdimbered with 
a numerous party of Indians who had accompanied 
Mmn&totos^ tftetiflen)^:ftfercb&«iaKitiielr bomes' in 
^M e:gp^«^fei^f iHe iath^?iibnfe $ke^w&rwio ibay© 
lipon theii' amval at Btmhdsi^yasBii'ita^Qrsilyii^ 
upon promises which it Vi?airt»9v (tbtanyraDfut rf 
power to fulfil, he was in the greatest embarrass.- 
ment. atosjdo slJfi^ox ftibsqxc 

bfiBihioisd raad* sJfiitiqon 



lbs TERMINATtON OF 

9jjrp^ pi^y^^gea ■ was out of the que^^fen ; aiid as ttr 
going to Cordova, whither it l^^^^efprM the Vice- 
rby had fled, it was evident "fflSt WtfetfcS'tt" time 
matters of much more pressing" ifflp8rf&c<e"'\vould 
prevent his attending to the objects of the expedi- 
tion. His resources too were utterly exhausted. 
f«§"fii^n^'J^^bwever, ^Htf <tejff"i^* reports 
8P%^4kd hap^a^^nSg^^^d^kS^of good 
te!ifl|^%hich oM ll^4^^¥a^"*««^^" expected 
fffei?^Mn under the sbte^^^^ififftnfent of their 
8S^X^WjJ)&tations. Having heard from Ciiiz a con- 
tffihaflSb of the bad news, they at once expressed 
tHHnselves satisfied that it was impossible for him to 
Mffil' his engagements towards them, and announced 
their resolution to relieve him from any difficulty on 
their account by returning whence they came. All 
ftiey desired was, that he would duly report to the 
V iceroy that they had faithfully, and as far as they 
could, fulfilled their engagements, so that they might 
d aim their due reward in better times. The Pe- 
Ktienches did not part Avithout much lamentation 
ft%m their Christian friends, and they repeated 
Sgain and again their readiness to obey any orders 
the Viceroy might be pleased to send them. Carri-. 
pilum made the same protestations, and left one of 
his relations to proceed with Cruz in search of the 
Viceroy, expressly to make an offer of any aid 
which the Spaniards might di^me. frQmlhe.j4i[diau§. 
against the common enemy, f* ^^^^ n^^ x.ois^i'5 ni^q^:. i 
Cruz found the Viceroy at Cordova, wlio received 



THE EXPEDITION. 1P9 

him with kin^i^e^^, a^;^ paid M^]l^^^'^^t^]S^}ff tg^^e 
Cacique who accpn^paJiifd |ijm|^. g^ 
\%,^^new suit of Sp^nj^^p|§tljg^af}dj3^|eij,|^jti^^ 
dismissed with presents and every demonstration of 
the high estimation in which the Viceroy held th^ 
services of Carripihim and his companions. J 

J.; Don Luis himself, upon the recovery of Buenos 
Ayres, repaired thither, and drew up the diary of his, 
interesting jt)iirney, which, like those of Villarinoff^J^ 
Viedma, and many other interesting papers of thf 
same sort^ was thenceforward consigned to oblivioj^ 
in the secret archivo.^ The various important po^. 
Jitical evBi]ljj|«^ich shortly afterwards began and 
rapidly syg^gijj^^^ggf 1^ <^ther were, however, perhapg 
some excuse for its remaining unnoticed. . 

In describing the eastern parts of the Cordillera^ 
Cruz says that, at the time he was there, only th^ 
yolcanoes^ ftf ,Antuco and Villarica were in activity ,'|' 
though th|^ ^ig^g of others extinct might be seen in 
every direc|yjg'j—^|^ig J evidences of their ancient, 
eruptions, he says, might be followed for thirty 
leagues continuously: — ^he speaks, amongst other 
volcanic appearances, of hot spring's resorted to 
by the India|^S|^^for ^-^jeir^inedicinal qualities, an4 

cjj'^ An estimate, an:^e:|(|^|@ ^|^jj^r||ali of the expenses which hi 
calculated would be requisite to make the road he had passed prac- 
ticable for carriages the whole way from Antuco to Buenos Ayres, 
made them amount to no more than 46,000 Spanish dollars. 

t Captain Fitzroy says that no^^te,,tUa¥ii9ttr..VAlcaii0^s,:,Oijw^ija 
activity, may be seen fipm Chile. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^,^-' ' 



no GEOLOGICAL OBSEHTATIONS. 

that several rivers are stroii^ly impregnated with 
it<) '-i^st quantities also of bituminous substances are 
everywhere ta^®ef3§^ii(^M(F^Wfe^iiff*the Neuquen,^ 
he says, there *as^W mMRMehyf^xL].'' Nor is' 
there good ground^' ifeF^^ubting his assertion, since" 
on the opposite side of the Cordillera, in about the ■ 
same latitude, coal has long*'^^^ gSfe^^ exist,^^ 
and has been occasionally used bjrlfiS^reign vessels ' 
trading with that part of Chile. Near the source^^ 
of the Neuquen are mines of rock-salt : in the level' 
lands, also, between that river and the Chadileubu,' 
s^t may at all times be collected from the surface ^ 
of the ground, and the intermediate strearfis are alF 
more'or 1^^'^bracMsh from its intluenc'K ^^^'^^'^^ Y,^^^'4 
Fossil marine remains appear to abound '^longsi? 
the lower ranges of the Cordillera which Cruz passed,^ 
not only strewed over the surface at considerable^^' 
elevations, but deeply imbedded in the soil, as might 
be seie^ wherever sections were formed by the courses^ 
of theiim(«iH^n-torre*tsio asi^'^sqoiq sa9it)3ii6iz ij ydi 

In addition to m &^cA^n^M^^ couTUfy;*"^ 
Ccua^ h^^dded to .^ffj^iri^^ s<Mie«¥6tf^nt of thd3 
^hfiluoitifiq 9'iofa jiBoqg iii^dp. I msdi lo lud ; g^dht 
=^ If coal really exist at the sources of the l^g^^giiiaivlijck he sayslf 
is navigable to the sea, it is impossible to calculate on the' extent of 
its future influence upon tlie prosperity of the neighbouring provinces 
whenever the peo|fle' 'Shall ^peii their eyes to the powers of steam- 
navigation. Ascyet, it would appear as if the people of Mendozal'^ 
and San Luis had as little idea of the use even of a caj^as tl\^\, 
Indians themselves, otherwise it seems hardly credible that the 
Spaniards should never have made , the lightest attempt to send a 
boat down any one of these rivers. 



pine-treesj i^^tlf^Jp^sfjjjfeej^^^ciiBy^jd^i^if^^^t^^ 

sQuthern .j5g||^o|i^P^f^^^^i^if ^^.i|ltfeb^ ASQ^ 
dering tql}^ J9jH^.,yj)1^ Wm^ Sff^^beofip^o 
tiers of M^gga^^^^%£ft)lJfe§ Rj^jiM^r^niBB 

i£,.their ci^^pr^|^ an^j^f^r^ y-M$4^MK^^iIte;t 
found to arise IfSPyJfe? W^tedPS'^^^fc^^^fteJo 
are removefl froni their..origiI^ll4stocif5r«a^ias^4;fey8^nfeI 
b^-ouglit i^:^to,^^ccasion^l contact witn their Cfefkti^g 
neiglibouyg^^J^ jj:i(|^§^§i^^i^ed into % 
petty tribes, cy^^gj^l^j Iff^iW^^PS' they wanderrr 
from ^la^e to pl^iBq^g^i^aga^teSP lor the 
sheep and cattle which^ constitute their sole posses-^.t 
sions ; continually quarrelling and fighting with eachn 
other, and rarely united by any common object saA«rf'3 
to make some occasional plundering expedition ag^n^ 
the defenceless properties of the Spaniards ifirn^HtMo 
frontiers. Such at least are the habits of thcie 
generally known as the Pampas, and Ran(pelesi3 
tribes ; but of them I shall speak more particularly 
in the next^lmptea^ ^di^o esoiuoa edi U i&ixe ^ll£9i l£ooll * 

The Pehuenches, whose customs Cruz describes,., 
appear to be a somewhat better race. They arew 
not so far removed from their original stock in" 
Araucania ; and their vicinity to the Spaniards^' 

srll Udi oldibsiD ^Ib-isd smoaa ii eH^isdio ^ssvioaccteilj aa&ihnl 



112 GUSTOMS OF TJIE 

f^«fihiA^/i^^^ fti^^4Jy ffll^^M^ >)i#l,t^em, has 
^^'f fl}ft#^Slt jfl%5ftf;|^,^u..niodifying tli^ir original 
habits. 

;^,Ii^, person they are described ^s j6ne men, stouter 
^nd taller than the inhabitants; .pf ^h^, plains^ but, 
^ce all the Indians of the same stock, in jthe habit 
qf disgustingly bedai^bing and disfiguring tjieir faces 
witli paint. .Tl^ey,^^^ 9<,<?Pfit ^fjpl(^k^x,>y|^l' the nef^^ 

and shoulders, with anothQifp^ifftVi^ft'e^fjtMl? fastened 
j^^jUnd the loins, and those \yho can get them, little 
cpnical hats bought from the Spaniards, and the same 
gqrt of boots as are made by the gauchos of Buenos 
^yres from the dried skin of a horse's leg fitted to 
?fe#^.r TJ^^f>ri^^?^,^^t|iqfljhqi5^^^^|^^^ 
jpjait^4^,^n4,pft^jt}; ornament^^^j^^^^r^l gpi^r^ qf 
ijj^^. same matenal are in great- request amongst them, 
^^ are eagerly. pur<jhase.d of the Spaniards. 
'[<, The women as well as the men paint themselvesi: 
,^^^^> r chief [ornaments consist of as many gold pr 
^ilyer rings a&tliey can collect upon the fingers, and 
large ear-rings, resembling both in size and shape ^ a 

ijommon English brass padlock, ^noiiuo^u) ihi^r. hn,. 
^l Their habitations consist of tents ^{If^flf. ,pf hides 
4^jWn together^ which are easily set ,up^ an^ moved 
|ift>i*l< pl-a^^i.t^r p)f^'^6- iT^i^i^' principal food, is tfjiiB 
flesh of ma^re^jraiMl cQltf,;iyj^icJi tj^ey pre% to a^ 
other ; if they add anything in the, shape of cakes or 
.bread, it is made from maize and corn obtained from 
the Spaniards in exchange for sajt, apd cattle, and 



'ii^: iiiii}; 



PEHUENCHES TRIBES. 113 

blankets, of^fM manufacture of their womeii, for it 
is rarely they remain long enough iil thi^^kme place 
to sow and reap themselves. '*"''* 

Their Caciques or Ulmenes, as they call them, are 
generally chosen either for their superior valour or 
wisdom in speech— occasionally, but not always, the 
honour descends from father to son : they have but 
little authority in tHe tribe, except in time of W^f, 
when all submit implicitly to their direction. 

They are not, however, entirely without laWl 
punishments for certain crimes, such as murder, 
adultery, theft, and witchcraft. Thus he who 
kills another is condemned to be put to death 
by the relations of the deceased, br to pay them 
a suitable compeinsation. The Wotilan taken in 
adultery is also punishable with death by her hus- 
band, unless her relations can otherwise satisfy him. 
The thief is obliged to pay for what he is convicted of 
stealing ; and, if he has not the means, his relations 
must pay for him. As to those accused of witch- 
t^raft, they arfi burnt alive with very little ceremony ; 
and such executions are of frequent occurrence, inas- 
much as a man rarely dies a natural death but it is 
'itfecribed to tli6 machinations of some one in commu^ 
hication with th^'^Ml ^i^jfyirit. -The relatives of the 
deceased, in their lahiehtatioris, generally denounce 
some personal enemy as having brought about his 
end, and little more is necessary to ensure his con- 
<lemnation by the whole tribe : sometimes in his 
agony the unhappy victim names others as his accom- 

I 



creator and ruler of all things, th^^^^ieybave iK>r 
fortn of worship^a^h^yic^sofe^l^^ influence of 

an evil spiritir(forte}^i$^itfe^^t*iri?l*tteprany ill tMt. 
befals them. They; consider ttat God has sent themi 
ipto the world to do right or wrong as they pleasej;!; 
tfcat, when the body perishes, the soul beconaes- 
ii|iitiortal, and flies to a place beyond the seas, where^ 
there is an abundance of all things, and where 
husband^ and wives meet, and live happily |ogethaf 3 
again.;! aonsbaos'iq a^jswl^ s&d taift sdi iud ,mo 
On -tiie occasion of theii- i^^^^rifefe ^^§i^^d 
want for nothing in the other ,^(^l(|)]fel^iii(?jif{t|^y 
have been used in this, their jpj<^l^||g c^n^l5tmM^tfi§?ni 
ments, and arms, are buried^rTf itottfeilri|6408l(^i|iR^ 
^Mtoek of provisipn§ii^'^e4^>IaiidMbe^9i,fi|^i4to{ 
is buried his horses are also slain j^^Mlftifgdtwi^l 
simm and set u|>i%Mjo>^dbiiqgsi!fe^.lfi BteltaMr- 
ihemt is conductedij isvith ,3Biig«if;BaawB'iks^di;e^ifio1iy9* 
^edebrdiiig to th€s r^vik of itt^igieiM^s^iikrltf he be a 
man of weight amongst them, not o^J^l^^lations, 
bftt^dll lli^iipriiifiiffdapfjiioia @fi(ih^otriiifeoassemWe 
^dtr toldvang^fito ddBHingnbfiSits^Qife- jii^npaye, at 
\^ich :tfe mof^drisfeithjb «lCffl©(^(mi|uf Is no 
fnHbey hav6y^'aa1ir|kitMiaf<temn«i^^Jef3ay^ in those ^ 
oC .their ancients and Ga<5iquesi to4*^hpna! they believe j^ 
they are sent as revelations for the guidance of the 



O^ TiiE PEHUENCHE^^ 115 

uMertake any aflfeirjit^itfer Q$# p4fcn«|9# ^ifiei^F 
importance, witrh§«€f£ffiiMp'^§«ft^Ri%94?ita ^^hm 
diviners and oM Wdihi^h M'ih ttrfefr #liicli"iliay 
have been observed. 

Marriage is an expensive ceremony to the bride^^ 
groom, who is obliged to make rich presents, som^^ 
tftnes all he is worth, to the parents of his love, b^^ 
fore he obtains th^ir consent. Thus daughters ar# 
a source of sure wealth to their parents, whilst thos# 
who have only sons are often ruined by the assist-^^ 
^Ii3#m^hi43h^ is required from&lh^fifwoiis 1itis@i cfl!5igttlt 
sioils. Such as can^iafibi^3^46.k#vmote wives thail^ 
one, but the first has always precedence in Ib^aR 
household arrahgeffi^it^, iind'sd on in succession. 

When a child is born it is tak4n jivitlv the mothew 
immediately to the nearest stf Mirfji ifep8#Meh afterf 
both are bathed, the mdlhe^^ie^tn^xtaBhfefifihetii^^ 
l^i^duties^ 8iM tikfe^^^ijtofii«i(^^fe^^ 
feast that follow^i ^^^'^^ oak s'ib ^^^1od mi bariud 8£ 

In almost all the^ iidbi!^otMd^6|Hidiiehfes[iapfr«ai8 

to follow the AraucaifflQjasfe, dfi^whbsioJifaaQjieaB i$mdi 

customs Moliiia^sto^lgisrfii ia ^aHi aAo<iilignifi-id»ij8B 

History ctf aCt^o ;ton ^msdi ^Tagnonus :rdgi9w lio nj5in 

offhe 8iSolMii*oid6ii© ©iomyj sfcatfiaitkqliwifl Ifevto^ 

account on altwthe)^)©!!®*!^ tdh^^eiifeet^^gerffi/foifof 
general, she said, felM««^crf)a(S?ttiifl3^B&*^^eigbffcysfH^^ 
as was possible under the circumstances :— she had? 
been taken by the Pampas Indians, and by them 

i2 



1 16 INDIAN NOMENCLATURE . 

sold to the Pehuenches, that she might have less 
chance of escaping and ever reaching her own home 
again. Men, women, and children, she said, lived 
much more on horseback than on foot. 

A knowledge of their language might assist 
much to make us better pcficauainted Avith their 
country, for their nomenclature of places, as well 
as of person^^l^^ygf^l^^jj^^^gljiJ^^J have al- 
ready stated that the Pehuenches derive their name 
&pm pehuen, the pine-tree, which abounds on the 
slopes of the Cordillera where they dwell. The 
Ranqueles are so called from ranquel^ the thistle, 
which covers the plains which they in]^;^bj|^-j; The 
JPicunches take their name from picunl^tjtliec'jOTor^A. 
The Puelches signify the people to the east, and the 
Huilliches those to the south : die means people. 
:^, The foUo wing will serve as ef5^am|)les of some of 
the appellatibft^ of their Caciqu^^f^^^Culucalquin, 
the Eagle; Maripil, the Viper ^ Ancapichui, the 
Partridge ; Quilquil^.tJ||t J^it|ig^5jtf^a;fifii|ayquia 
the Sun ; Cari-mangue, the Condor ; Antu-mangue, 
the iQst^kJi b : ePidhi^mMgffiKjB thmoYuitoig ; ^ i^Mi , 
|iMgife,,4hevffldd(30nS)rbno^9d ^h'm'mn^^ blO sdt 
liaill \d siiob nssd g^d ;tBdw 9*B;^a oj basaoiq won 
-nooni 8f :^I .aonabnsqsbni lisdi soiiia aiospsoong 
;^a909'i Y19Y B ot qu .doidTf oonvCion gi 9iit aMsvm 
lo 8988J3b i9d§rrl 9dt n9V9 tggnomB b9t8iz9 J)oii9q' 
nBibaladt ^nito9q89i 391^^ aoa9ij3 lo 9lqoeH| adl 
fiTfo 'n^Ai b9bfisjod ybieibsmmi ihhbn ^si-jothiet 



Jooi no limb Aoadop.iiod no siom rloum 
j£_ ... ..ij^im 9^JSD^flB{ lisili lo 8§b9l¥r0flil A 

llsw 6.5 ,890filq lo 9'iu;tBbn9mon 'H9rl;r lolt ^Y^inuoD 

9fnBfl liedi s^heb asdoaQud^^ edi ij^di hsiBi^ \hBQT 

Ignoranee of ffie"Bfen6^^kpan^^l^!fig llrf^lari^^^^ <^^ 

Saladoj)reviously to their IiidependencQ. Colonel Gama's eirf 

^ pedition to the Salt Lakes in 1810. The Gwernmeut of Buenos 

Ayres endeaYours to bring about an arrangement with the 

Indians for a new boundary. Their warlike demonstrations 

render futile this attempt. March of an army to the Tandil, 

,. ,, and erection of a Fort tliere. Some account of that part of the 

country. The coast as far as Bahia Blanca examined, and exr^ 

tension of the frontier-line as far as that point. The hostility of 

lo the Indians makes it necessary to carry the war into the heart 

j-[j^^^ their' Terdtories* General Rosas rescues from them l§^% 

Christian captives. Detachments of his army occupy the ChQ-. 

leech el, and follow the courses of the River Negro and of the 

■..t^ Colorado till in siglb^"if^^C5A:(§ri^*,i^^P^^y ? O^briJl^l 

,9ug!iJciii-ijjuA ^ lobnoO 9iit ,9u§nBfn-h^0 i njj8 sdi 
HaWSg ; gir^r Yom£tta(as(Dgttlfafi4h^x{)ib«a^6iis9df 
the Old Spaniards beyond;i«:fiaenbi){@y»rf*,,iJ3i^ 
now proceed to state what has been done by their 
successors since their independence. It is incon- 
ceivable the ignorance whieh," up- to a very recent 
period, existed amongst even the higher classes of 
the people of Buenos Ayres respecting the Indian 
territories which immediately bounded their own 



4db(ad0ic©cInY@«hgli€fe^oofiarfte *fe1^r^ifP^iiisf^^ft- 

l(toteraWle ^^i^ <rfui^*p%«M^ f§#if«^of^that pait 
^of the contid^l^e^ 8(H!lfc^-fi4S)\'\%i^rrf»yww<?rth tke 

*3a considerable portion ol*cift%ftr9^Mltlti§!rty most im- 
'J'^erfectly and erroneoiisl';^ S^oiriye^-^fti^ijft existing 
jnaps, '\ ^'^Muad b£m ^i 

lo One of the first attempts mad%oby>l^¥ndepend- 
Ifents to acquire accurate data resjpsit^^ ^he country 
*%) the south of the Salado apple^^^itt^'*?^^ l^eMn In 
MBIW^qn the occasion of one of thSop^Jf)dical ex- 
a^dMfofe to the great salt lakes in tfei dmh. Those 
'ex^dMons formed a singular excepti6n*f6Uhe ordi- 
nary supin^ness and indisposition -Sf{tl«e^paniards 
^46 mmW' tte# e#fi9(frdhtier^/^i^1ri]^i^eofasisted of 
olarge convoys of wa^gbns^^di^ftotite^ffiSider direc- 
tion of the municipal" authoritife^9tb'ie4lfe(5t salt for 
«ithe yearly supply of ^he city, eifec^e^ My a militaiy 
force to protect them from the Indians. Of &eir 
i^pkrfeiit " topOrta@i^^ stnirft ifea^iyg^prfee ^ fermed 
I lte|i^ (M¥e, d Whic^iaA ae^iffit If^^^dSi^^r^erVed, 
mnS^^^hich took plak dmlhgiihal^mm^^^ Vii^e- 
^^qfQ'Y^mtiiZ, in 177B, comp(&se^ of 600 waggons, 
-«^itH^l"S,000 bullocks, and 2600 horses, and nearly 
it@0(jBM«n to load them, beiSides an escort of 400 
4l)rdiet^i' s5|%e Indiaiii, on these occasionSy were pro- 



^ THE SALT LAKES. 119 

p^tiat^d bjfo^lifetbl^ presents, atid, as llie cara^vails 
lie ver devi^te^ from their object, they be<iiiaaafi)<ikii.- 
oJ>ituated ftc^ryi^np, and, instead of regardiiag them 
/With jealousy, in general rather looked forward with 
j'j^agerness for the annual tribute in the shape of 
, presents which the Spaniards were ready to pay 
them for an unmolested passage across their terri- 
tories. They even lent the people their assistance 
.^f^f t^e satfelakes to load their waggoiis in \exchange 

for beads and baubles from Buenos Ayres. 
.fi£j The Yic^jroy occasionally attached some pieces of 
« ^illery to the troops, and generally availed himself 
iijpf the opportunity to make a salutary display airtong^t 
ibei savages of the military discipline and power of 
the Spanish soldiers, which no doubt had its due 
effect; but no one thought of turning these expe- 
-]ditions to any further account :— they never departed 
It^/roi^ th^o§a^eiifirect and beat#© irmk ^K^^ tke 
pampas, and not the slightest pa|fa^ ^d^jgo^feeni^to 
Kj^Uect anyifurtber ioferiJiQjtion respe(5titigiife^to%»fry 
^^.b^yond, at least in t^3l^if|e t^f^it^^|ixjg|)ad»h 
li^Wle. i mo'ii medi iosioiq oi aoiol 

1^9^, The members ofr ttet^ati^i^i^CMeritfB^fllqqi^t 
J^p>i4it.|l810, were aRii||^feij6b^oM4if$r,^J9do hfhlt : 
i\ief foresaw with the i^Wfe ^fiilliei&odfteifeiiil^imes 
S^e prospect of their becoming ;^: loiilii^ioid^e^ple, 
Y l^ind the cpnse(|iient n:ecjegsity vf of Ijgili^iilg} §^ 
f |jCouragement to the extension of their pastoral esta- 
blishments a§>yould tend to tbeljiidtiplication of the 



sfeiplaiilol)0|Hil)d&tdeSjaJfiit^ k0jEinto3)j8d(5F138[) extension 
Q|ii1dBeiDtfitq]dde#jfe^ aJaHiotfciijsdilieij^f otectikm by raili^^ 
tgrfy qi(Bdtfo w*a*B cbbsKqu^tlj' ahai6wg atiiBDifirst (Mo 
jfe®ife»ftHmiida1fteJitaaB'^aQdY/vvH6B3lhe8anKBual eik> 
]^diti©f te9tiieYSiiinafenMias9^oft6 t(j9:te8gtrfDut, theyf 
to)fei(rflja©'tq sghctoaqg^fficer [feto^^scobiiaand of it 
qmii&M. to.l3i!®s(m]toii»aqthJ5fKasaitcy9(f,rHi to collect^ 
^«A ig&ife»ssdt»»i a-Sffiii^^^ tjiemiaiideterminin^l 
%po®olitqkjgfu^uoe fdaifenfoi^ftoj^eBsioa of the% 
tfoitoriakpxijidietibeya 9fl:r lo g^Toajdo -loi h 

Bafel^fiaiil. biHegiard^ relSa:i($Jcrt(feit@fiy< disposition, 

idosffo'iD 1JWl;3(sfci(pg>ibmitte!^^MWl^^ ni&om the- 
dte^gfohko^pf^lioav wMsh fedindli^ cpossession; 
M^P|fe^B«iith8>Htlie^0flj^v&fodir/c^«fTo]^(pl$«gd under 
^mdsk^Vfge^sQK ty^g®d0feiiS&, ^jlniat^iof 'g34 wag^ 
griBSiijii^lte£^7r.feuHo^;jiaiyo^^i5hfel^s&attad 
tQsdihemil) His i#teii&ia)te^ikfi&(fif^iB8d(}i©i's, weM 
4fflS): fWitsy d^JwidM^tjIIilB^ fifibi-pia$^ sMidi thema 
Jfl^r fMqnthisBCQjisi^^giisfeL &tc^%ipmf^b c^Mpareii 
Hfitkifiae^iBf l»pfditio»s8MtlIii;befm0m (8iijQt;->|rie 
deed Garcia soon found to hk^slottojtah^ fimm 
wfetetenrdly^MtffiqbesatgfcI^rs'^ouBelMm ©ofcHntegriaie&pect 
ffamqsoira©Jafiv&e tonjoiBdis^BdGac^uf^, :wlio, from 
|iliuexlji4i©boiiyiu8a^ito§«tfcil ftoijbietr^^^ Cruz de 
^u^i^ le-i^ g^mHS "^ Jfej^f Sftlina§> successively 
bjBsieged ^idal i^^tfc'ttftirjifripJrtAMiiieaior presents^ 



Ziji^o^rrHE^SAmNASts :-: 121 

especiallp (s61l6ba<^a(!tfia«idos|riiits,aaM)ikefptofciii^^^^^ 
continual ijdiiCBlolffstsilrbeyi A)iiMB ^tertiptfltQi ckrry 
off by rtfcaife. gTrdiailB ^hteipw|XjraiM> irat^f/ obtaiiii yhp 
other meaaus^rllEaeHY/wKoj* p^-esetited^shimsMf called^ 
himself mteieo^ djfodkeaiianidsaifh^Si^ere passing 
through, jajdooes^cteH issriti^spanitel^ pt'eB«^n«ts 'te^ 
purcha«©thimfei^iBsk>nefcd;tpas^ofcffW)gBod.^ Nor was^ 

g«il tistficaaflai^tniiefolniisfKi tou^^uHpicion oi 
the ulterior objects of the BuefiC^S'i^Ayreahs ; and^ 
under ^J ia^atilpnnih^^ifttej^i^roj^ected a forcible 
^ttlemen1^ifibfl<ihd^iWdi/iHfe ffilLfiqud^^ ^foib^ 
from the i^lata^^^ifliP^fisSki ^mssMid .M«fj#cMj 
under thi^ilQfifil$cifMjj6liSB^ttefi([kit»^^ 
spoken ©E in .tb4fi fcfi^^Wgndwiqatels)^ lo^i coilectei 
their foro^ ^[rlfthfiite dm^tf i&t^iMt{3^omio%ii^h 
vour to^ ^ai|%fl[otto»whcfl6vpM^y9iltB«riiii8atigJ^/lh^ 
fidelity ^ °ionfe^©Eitkfe .©d^M^Si^kj^ Eastej^iifefi^b^l 
who hate8mtdHaf^^oh/feiaiui%3Mt/«la^]^^edilii4;h8Jfth§ 
Ranqueiai|)toia^Iiifi>0apiiaa^diiedt4ir?affldi^eorite!?1i 
their hostile plsai^Wai ^liUy^' thou^ ^iHi rcflBtfe 
siderable > dp&t4t;p3»fifi 4afegei^] to accsitnpMi^ iW 
ebjectj aiaS) fiJtiMiQriithtiis convoy^ of «ai*^rtiiiii 
safety t&M^oi^0S^mi oi bnuol aooa jsio'ifiO b^yb 
Jo'iAmoi^sitiftfe© reyil^^iiO^atbJsiflEgipfflartiqrfbiBafe -^h® 
determiiwti^nj»^fi3bs@ifcalEo|Hi30f osfev^iteeiiogpflint^ 
along the" lite "^ofai^toi't isih^tfii&BQuaidiiodarMxafl&i 
in lat. 34^ 39', hh§ ^rtkt M BiikK^s #re^ L^'S^B 
the Gre^t Salt Lake in lat^i^fif libS'^ long, west of 



MMmn^y^i§ 4u5Vrtfbi^li<?fi?vl^% dkt^ftee travelkd 

being 97 leagues, or^vl4.4i9g><^4ife^lT>l^l)ft'pni Luxan 
J^ tb^:>^apitalicJ^M'0$a[?Buenos Ayres. The journey 
9f[»t i$^MpiMi§? ij^yfefiSnM^e T^tuin g§ ^.^fe^ether 

titer. pa% \<^jj%fe=i^ jftt^Jl tiBfegm^^, Vja., from 
,>he 21 St of QctQb«^|;o ^©(^if feM J0©5em]3er. 
yr^iiTbe^idialy feaUir^^.}gbp;fe ^^lilfly^i'tby of remark 
^long the road ar€t)rf|h^o njy[fl[i(^<^s^Ja|^f^ which 

appear to be the cpll§Qti5JM <>f sj&e Lfib'eams from 
|3^he western ramificat>ie)|is e^fi lil^^Si^^ ; 

J;Jb,e most considerable of which is 'tihe JUiguH^ del 
r^§f^te, in lat. 36° 53', long, from Buenos Ayres 
ofiJse^fT' sfft'^Sfj^ft^ie, the Lake of the Wood^j^s taken 
Y^p^frnx^Jl^^fsl^^ypoii it covered with line timber; 

it is formed by the river Guc]b>iu^,x^ngti#b§if,streaiiis 
^om the ii?^€Mn^inr<gi-ei^^^^ £i?^l€f^ ^^^f^idth was 
,jpstimated to be three or four ljeagues;and4i the rainy 
j^season it forms one with the lakes of Paraguay os, 
•ij^tending more than seven l^agi^g^itoitfee 1c>uth- west, 
e-ofi^lthough the Laguna del Mfflteg^Y^iSbcsrft, it was 
a^t^M^d 'th^t /t^i'S waters of: s©Met(^ the smaller 
^Ja^jin4ts immediate vicinity *weir^ ^irife#ly sweet. 
iSbf s^i©^ <>bseryation was made a^g^e S^ljnas a J^e 

^•^^ihe-^titude of i^ (Sma\Mie ^fe^ "^L 
iilentre of the notth sia^^f ^piK^fe3ffii paf^werd^gnoainped. 
y^[In 178& I>3n Pabl(J^. Z^^r, 9.1ie64eii%flt ^4j^e l^p,msK.navy, had 

, fixed the north-east angle of the lake in lat. 37° 10 ^ and 4"" 36' west 
of the meridian of Luxan (Guar dia) ; according to hini ttie lake'of 
^^Cabezadel Buey is in lat. 36** 8', and the Gruardia de Luxaii in 34° 36'. 
^lUara.fcxed it in 34° 38' 36''. 

h^mdmyi. . 



u^mmi^immmM^s, its 

r •Shortifl>efbreCi4allMagSto)M§W 
tlie Sierra de la V'^Mfebfeagn^^ji §§iM^M^,^«fee 
Guamini, were seetit a*[rf *f>K¥«faife% ^fe^r^J^ : 
the Sierra Gimmini bore south 15%^il5[l§ ^^ 
>te€ Ventana soutH^^&t ^^^M'l^ east. There they 
^Wete met by several of the best-disposed ^f te 
'CJaciques and their followers, who supplied them 
^ith cattle in exchange for the articles they had 
I ^i til them. They accompanied them to the Salinas, 
"""^hichth^y^ reached two days aftei^^rds ;-^iid^ lo 
thiem they owed thefh' ^j^^ection frofti %he febstHe 
Ranqiieles and Carripilum, whose treachery they 
- discovered and expos^/^^ i^vri sxii ^{a Donnoi ai 31 
?^ Speaking of the^"f^hai^§?g1^r^«§pi^afi§fe^rflnam]fe, 
Y^arcia says they are remarkaTO^ laifii^for their 
^owardice^ai^f^ their fero<^y^^h^Siw<#a3fef^^ M' a 
•system of cOriiiii^«|^<Mceftvai^di^^£^ll^ggnd their 
stolen victories are alW^^^i^^lf^erf^fe^d^jlfVage 
:^uelties. Nothing could" ^^gfeeflf^^htlS^* submissive 
Obsequiousness to the SpaMiai^^iE^JSS #ie' moment 
they -knew they had ^M^ ^^^gm^ ^M their 
hostile intentions, and ,^^^re^ jj^p^n^^^tjig^-^^guard 
against them. The prevailing vic^ laiaiifaigst sthem 
'liU/'eX^e^ the best of them, is drunkenness,— the 
;j^C*aciques set the example upon every occasion ; and 
it is seldom that their orgies end without the loss 
of lives, for in their cups they are always quarrel- 
some : — then the slightest offence is remembered , 



ii{^^#Jtoefl^Mi^B)ilteMtf^^tei3P^^R^ pffifi|)as:— if 
tfe4'^6aa§iaf^%d) mm^ ^^Umvm'^ihefwM Make war 

^M ^^f-pmt^m^, Sfi^tHg^^oAMrfpdF eastern 
pfei^leJOs* 1iaf'itife\^ti3(i alJ6uf^%K ^feiias and 
^^ ^%a%itfiW tb#kraF4}ie^^telfc,l 1^ f&fiid to be 
i?fi&#ipe^eeably dispo^§fP§ M^fer^^^f^ possessors 
o^4tete<^lie#M^Mfi €fek|aW^hgi^"9WH3 and the 
H^k^(mites%# if^%rto^te^tefti^flf-Mongst 
d^^S|)l^iaJ?is,9gHMi>TO<J^on<ifio^/^ii?-a^^^^ 

a§ISa^^iW> Ajn^aft'r^W& Mtife^'F^ 'o^ailnwo-iw 
^^hW^iMkm'^l^G^^^k^ J^M'i^^^^mb, and 
@iF6i^*s^f s ^1i^*WMp6^il^^^§^d^^?MiM it fVoni 
tfefeBtlfiebw|p§§d§i*hMi^lft^4%sQ]§!infi§^f^bm, from arf 
m^^m^^mm^ ll)^ §€^mK?li£?^fi^«g^agral view 
<#^'t| ^Wn §i%fQ4fle coQI^Jr ^r^ft^^^^idetaljlt? 
afetafsfe. 9rfL#5aM^^teU^a^€^atBgo'§^ttlg^%' WM 

m\M sm^m^s'^e m^mmMib\^i^^/m^t^ witW 

pUstub^ge^ 1^91^1^ ga§^a^«<^««Kfe ^tiiice, some 
^5t0^^nfe^#ivM^te>;A^3ii'ki,«l^ Wm" told, extended 
tbtlie billy ran^'^s^'^T ©nailimi "^and I^a Ventana.' 
@n the opposite side, to the westward of the lak^| 
wtas a vast forest of chafiar, algaroba, and an infinite; 
variety of other trees, which the Indians told him 
extended wi*h-littlfe ^-interruption for three days* 



AT -THE GREAT SiV^f:^^Af]^p. \^ 

journey in that direction ; and t%^.ilfid^4i l^j 
gngular circiyp^i^fg ^ti |teHtoab£#yxM4)& ^f 
off in the midst ,g| j^ jpg^rJ^ b^S^F^^m ,§Sof$ftM 
extent^ were to be gi^^ngg^^ ruins^of the rj^f^^Jl^jfjlftB 
i^gs of some formqg i^Ji^T^bitants (antigiia.pD]^%^(m^i£ 
though, as ta \vh,<^^h|g.^^.ght have h^en, ;9g£^h^ 
they ceas^^ ^^gji^^^^h^ ,^§8i'tJi%9§fi^tetn$l^n 

^hich had^ been [xlanted there, had^ multiplied mt 
^eediogly, so that it was a great resort of the Indian% 
in their journeys across t]|^ jj^^pj^^^ to gather 
figs, peaches, walnuts, and a^^^ ^^dg >(^J>er fruits^j 
of which there was an abundance for all thajb 
went there. Wild cattle also, they said, were in th<^. 
surrounding forest, but they were not so accessible^^ 
ajad w^jie 4iffi^Flt t9^M^f^^^ W^^^^^^^^ woods. 

Colonel Garcia h^g^r^^i^^qg^j^j^y^ g^s^gt^hwto 
could have befgri^8^Sy^rPfMd*i§b§§6kd§ftlxawli 
remote spot, nj9i^^%^ngj^^g ^f §|)^ped since any> 
further, ^a9^9ugt.i^ ^feSfSoo sf&erio^g^ Mv^life ti^% 
might i^ii]^l]^ji^'0Mj6(^efe^fJitg#i^. the 4atet<jfi 
the bfi^^^^,^i^4jlB^^ftfeiS*ftt9fte,nam^ alon^ 
of 4bos§j>{j^§,]i^ ^Hf n^nfe4i5#3^B§ufi^te©|; t^ indicat^ 
that they>n]5|^h^t l^n^^liJ^^irc^^Mvi^^-oduetions/ 
and coiiireqgiin^BtllsSfAfee® t^^a'|a%l^drA^ni3iiju^ 
have d^>|^'i§of^^ftP^i^}S to the di^^^p (rfijtltf© 
p,art of rtha^rrworl^nbyfotha Spaniardsio'} +Nothingir 
l;.ws told, existed at Buenos Ayres which could 
throw any light whatever jiipon the subject. 



eiy^l^M^ iiiiBBi^v^imhlmtbai tiafe B«cfeMascAyreans<[ 
w^jriilv/bai^emM^ogretiibfttikf rraBjqi^aiMeld Iwith. the>a 
sctohrfjDalpaa'tedfotiaie ^pgailfa^iBbutfifi^Mq thi^ opening^ 
o^-aiqii^KfesiaMted'ikMMiiedifiafins^d^^ salt from - 

tli©o(xap^(d]e SeardtKlaodiiti amdo dlhmde'dxintEies reuria 
dted ,Kfexi^©0ffi88a]^ fisr dlajg)^v®irfitirb€iBtrtcBjq[>JUt*dtsigl^ 
taikij^ eki})enMYfeQrafeihe!m^I^n(yi3BdgnMfafdaals with'*!^ 
ou6§tbc[;tpli^teofJoatoQ§ €teilitoacqaa wMdF^not imn tlife>1 
risk of encountering the Indians, the Salina^ ceaseitv 
tosUebfBsarlEedfllto^'aird Jbhes'irfeiapltiiirifi BeeM^s Ayres 
befcame asaqokcilad^iM |mmhksm^iit)f [(foreigners an 
arlktee^ ^iel{ ffaiBy.faanpreD^Hii ikijgxhaus^fe supply 
wWbinfMidraoAVBtitemt^ifjji asoiol: sld^aoqaib liadj ili5 
ifiaBdg^i|3!itepesM rito ^h«3 gatefmriepfe-itoBlftMnHnsfifi 
mitftqirjaisrfttleijimiii adf^e^&shrdis^d^mhb^^hp^Jeekitr^b 
pmnjb ofisabliaqKlef gfissKfti^nfitfl bexidi^aMaiK from thest^ 
river Colorado across the pampasdiiaFGBtrSQn^Rafaei!^ 
orfiidi^fciYeiwiManiaiite,ljB)Oi^hjef'iMe&ideza.£ This he 
cQ6edBi^d[iw©uM¥effec;lafiar]l]^r«ii^ 
ofodieoRaaaqaileetaM tfefekiithnkwi^liasstsaaates, whilsti^i 
th®§*i8M][J'^aidlM^l-di8|ii)ffimilSydbBhei^ to the ' ' 

sosarft,, heiJwatotqleiattly laisHsed^iwauMi sAdAiat period 
hawTe^^bfieai ^^d(<|€ifdiajv^e:rbfiffigedbi5ii)igii<bouad^r the im- 
mfip^fiile Ji|g'otedtia»o©fiid;iiferf gofeefafiieaib M Buenosii J 
Af »e»dvil!heij jhMcsjklfffibciqojBsIfafe ifefi l^^tt^ei? wei-e 
thiiciqubi[etk^9j[ jBiHaiffla^^e[ideiBit|^icrf H^sftdi^ia^ where 
inndiek»flffierolpfld)fe tim^ h^flibrnMtfc&^Tespect the 
Spaniards, and to kppnedate the benefits of keeping 
up a friendly and well-regulated intercourse with 



FOR Ai^NEW BHONTIER. 19^1 

pains to isDEWMiiai^ 1M^ iiativeldiiforsciasiili (§hciiiils«^s 
so wellliiByd WaMisyftBon QK^tfd^atmgotMmsaadw^ifecfc^ 
that, in tkdt p[r!epentij«fa|^^e4hesf 9lobolbe][*6BC|i€iafefeid)a 
there wast Sothni^tthqyidesiyed^tairfesthkig^teijpea'^o 
manent establishrasdilt^ of obb inbiHeMtfoaslE afoisqeflairii 
between theili jaHdiAhsY^i^cqslfe xsfi ^eM)®!^Jikyre^, hasD^b 
that they would gktdl^iLplaoeaiihtosalivi^iai^stJimrol 
folla^ers lu^ndbixdw Enpn^diatfe^ ^eoteotJoa^«?fqtMJgdHo 
vernment. r^! R ril .aii^ibnl eib ^fllisJairoonQ lo iaii 

, But Garaak jilaiBlqud^aedd &IC8-Q0jftito'ie@ai(fe8eol 
doiie at Qneeol3;^(th^nr«d£lDsiodf EhidndbilD^BeB ^naHi^d 
p^i!tJy*ipe^h^8^i9dxtkatim5CPimt/^iflS jiaf<% Be(s&6s|fL6 
all their disposable forces apid)limiHBtae[¥A©erfefMiQTtll^/ 
afterwards^ 'reripiiigiiG tog ea^ri^ cxtn bttoqetacfiggiBi^Qr 
their indepfelnd<^iii^jE?'^^irfe^, sifclithB liieaiysldttei^'ipiiiHff 
jects, laid' asifd^ibaad ntanyliyjeaftsielapsHdi^eft© ^tnipq 
furthei* stfip8?\^»1akfeBJ5qmfiq edi aaoioi^ objsioloQ isvii 

6Neveittheleseb4fbMf^uIlkfC0f,9theinj5Mwi9pW 
condition detel0^ifedi{dMins^iBajsl^oall9^&iij«irtibBp^^ 
and the increase of 'their rtrndiil fedBtesfhBpexMri^iMo 
of their pasto]?aAt astablishni^alb I&kHotig^ftiiei-gaMii 
vernment toote iMiio^a^bpei^^fcYitiBiBiprote^ion, thm)8 
people of ' the ycMgta^icbe^^ te^jQ9db¥D]f) jb jfel^ igbadsstosd 
the south d.f the&i&lado^ ^¥Mi;htaBociBiibBcla'g}it sthetem 
into conta^l amk MliaiopiwIliIt^biitdiaailVhQ^aQil^ 
their part^ lidokM Mt|liaiTOrpiiilatmail jea 
settlements plailt^d rwithdntl theii ^©hqdins^icesfidniii 
lands which from time immemorial they had beenf 8 



128 W ARFi^tE *WrTH >tHll INDIANS. 

acoifetbln^dnrtoisfmnsider MJi^iHkisWMy" ttheir own 
^fee niofe peaceable tiibes retired to the* fastnesses 
in the mountains to the south, but the Ranqueles 
and other migratory hordes retaliated by carrying off 
the cattle and plundering those who had thus in- 
truded themselves within their territories. In these 
marauding expeditions they were often joined by 
^^Ptf^ ^6# the vagabond gauchos, desertei-s from the 
WAif^h^di such wretches flying from tlve pursuit of 
|li^tic'e ^s, in times of civil commotion especially, are 
%o be found in all countries. By those unprincipled 
associates they were soon taught to look with less 
dread ^^tf^dti the fire-aiiri^ of ^ l^d Buefios Ayrean 
'^i^^BM^'MA even t6Us^the?niv whenever, either by 
Ae murder or robber^ of some defenceless estanciero, 
they fell into their hands. Nor was this the worst. 
During the unhappy civil dissensions which broke 
out between Buenos Ayres and the provinces, some 
W' tli^'ii'nprincipled leaders of the reckless factions 
which divided the Republic sought alliances with 
the Indians,* the fatal consequences of which they 
^^nly too late discovered. Like bloodhounds it was 
-impossible to restrain them. When once the 
weakest points were shown th6ttl,^^thfej^ burst in 

^ Jn the life of the CarreraSt given in the Appendix to Mrs. 
^fe-khkffl ^ 'abc<iurit 6^ Cliile,- th is an account of Some of these 
^lindian forays; in conjunction with Garrerafs troops, particularly of 
l|j[i^ir surprisal of the town of S alto, and the carrying off from thence 

of 250 women and children, after butchering all the men, in spite of 

every effort of their unnatural allies to prevent it. 



,:. # i, I i§ MISSION ^ TO THEM . : ^hW 

upon thelir^i^i^aiaig^ niurdering>iin|»if|ildli)loQd 
:#s©^sdefeneel«ssLr fead ^ unprepared inbal)iti^nte, f^gf|d 
learrying off the women and chflidiiQlieiijjtoiia diaye»)^y 
irfthe most horrible description. - ,_ ;, 

Hi It was manifest that the impunity with which 
^iJiese outrages were committed arose mainly fronei 
i^he total absence of any protection on the part of 
.|the government for those settlers who had adyanced 
l^eir estancias beyond the old forts within the line 
.*^f the Salado, and the public voice called loudly 
ifpr some prompt remedies for the eyil, the .mo^t 
il|icacious of which appej^r^d to be th,c adoption qf 

>^sed for a vne^i^^^tSiin^^a^y !§# to cover tLe 

l^ural population south of that river ; the hilly 

fanges of the Yu^lcan, especially, seemed to pre- 

*j|§nt a^n§|;ural fo^ only nepes* 

mm Jmrnm^ #1 imi%#e object; but the .^- 

formation .|§^pt^ ^|hat part of the countrjj t^P^s 

^§till exceedingly imperff^^|;, ^ .^pd it was de%r^^:p^, 

^ftjierefore, in the fii'st instance^ to send out an ex- 

^f^l^r^tojfy. expedition to examine them. This led to 

^^^lo^^ Garqia bein g again called upon to proceed 

i|o *teH§oi^wife(#iq^4^gW%4^ 

inar to induce the Indians to enter into an arrans^e- 

^,||ient with the government of Buenos Ayres ior ^ 

%ew boundary as the basis of a general pacification, 

'Ihd of acquiring precise information as to the most 

eligible positions for the establishment of military 

posts in the hilly ranges in that direction. 

K 



130 GARCIA 'S SECOND 

B The GOmmunications he had had twelve years be- 
fore with the leading Caciques of the tribes inhabit- 
ing the country eastward of the Salinas led him 
vainly to hope that those tribes at least might be 
brought to acquiesce peaceably in the views of the 
government, and, provided they were left in posses- 
sion of the lands they occupied in the vicinity of the 
Sierra Ventana, thalTithey would not oppose the 
occupation by the Buenos Ayreans of the more 
ij»;0rthern line of the Vuulcan and Tandil ; but Gar- 
cia was not aware of the great change which had 
taken place in the feelings and policy of the Indians, 
from a variety of circumstances, since his journey to 
the Salinas in 1810. 

; The messengers_, however, sent forward to an- 
lapunce his mission Avere well received, and a re- 
spectable deputation, headed by Antiguan, one of 
ti^eir principal chiefs, was sent forward to meet and 
to(|;C^|iduc|^ the ambassador and hi& suite to their 
^^^L(^xa|; the foot of the Sierra Ventana, where the 
Caciques of the Puelches proposed the negociations 
should be opened, promising to invite thither at the 
same time representatives from all the tribes of the 
PampaSiii^ot excepting the Ranqueles, and the 
Huilliches or People of the South, inhabiting the 
lands as far as the rivers Colorado and Negro. 

Under this escort, and accompanied by Colonel 
Reyes, an engineer officer, and about thirty persons, 
soldiers and peons. Colonel Garcia set out from 
Lobos for the Indian territory on the 10th of April, 



JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH. 131 

1822. On tliW 12th they crossed the SaM(^ at a 
place where its depth allowed of the safe passage 
of carts, and where its width was not above thirty 
or forty feet ; this was some way above the junction 
of the Flores, after which it becomes a river of more 
consequence, its breadth extending to 300 yards in 
the winter season, when it is impassable except in 
canoes. The next day they cfossed the Saladillo at 
the pass of Las Toscas; this stream falls into the 
Salado a little above the river Flores, towards 
which they proceeded through a country much in- 
tersected by swamps, which obliged them to deviate 
continually from their direct course. When near 
the Lake de las Polvaderas, Colonel Reyes, being 
desirous to take an observation, produced his 
sextant, which led to an unexpected but serious 
manifestation of alarm and suspicion on the part of 
the Indians. Some foolish person, it appeared, 
when they were setting out had told them that the 
commissioners had with them instruments through 
which they could see all the Avorld at once, and 
nothing would satisfy them, when they saw them 
brought out, that the Spaniards were not in direct 
consultation with the gualichuy^^ devil himself. It 
was impossible to do away with this notion of theirs, 
which led to the inconvenience of obliging the officers 
afterwards to take their observations by the stars at 
night instead of by the sun in the day-time. 

About two leagues beyond where they crossed 
the Flores they verified its junction with the Ta- 

k2 



132 THE AMARILLA HILLS. 

palqin»:to a vast marsh. The Flores ^f*m fact 
but the drain of the waters of that river; it was 
found to be more brackish than even the Salado; 
In the thick jungles along its banks many tigers 
were seen, which, however, excited little apprehen- 
sion compared with the horseflies and mosquitos, 
from whose venomous attacks there was no escape. 
They followed the Tapalquen till they came in sight 
of the Sierraj distant ten or twelve leagues, the 
Amarilla Hills bearing south-south-east, and those 
of Curaco south-south-west ; between these two 
groups runs one of the passes frequented by the 
Jffiidifejiso lin their journeys to the Ventana, where 
the travellers halted, and in the night, whilst their 
Jaidian guides were asleep, by an observation of 
Mars, determined the latitude to be 86° 45' 10"; 
Ihe longitude they ^i^ed .^1,54° W.&^^m G^^m 
l^riation 17° lO^fw (loofirJ eupiofiD bfo ylhmbJ 
=^1) The following niorning, ma^J^B^ ^il^text for 
lagging behind out of sight sarfMl^i? Indian 
friends, they reconnoitred th^ y-j^^ /and deter^ 
iwined with a theodolite the height^ -of^ some of the 
^>ills in its immediate vicinity; the highest point 
?Qf the Amarilla, or Tinta group, called Liraa-huida, 
=south-east of the pass, was 200 feet, and the 
two peaks of Curaco, which they had seen at a 
distance the day before, measui-ed, the one 270, 
and the other about 200 feet. A small guard-house 
or fort would effectually close this pass against the 
Indians. 



ENCAMPMENT OF ANTIGUAN. 133 

To the 4^outli of this part of the chain, the 
country is a succession of hills and dales, watered 
by many streams from the Sierra, and apparently 
well adapted for an agricultural settlement. Taking 
a course about south-south-west, on the third day 
after leaving the pass of Curaco they came in 
sight of the second range of mountains, called the 
Sierra de la Ventana, and arrived at the toldos of 
Antiguan their conductor, whose people, apprized 
of their approach, came out in great numbers, men, 
women, and children^ to receive them. Antiguan 
lost no time in despatching messengers in every 
direction to summon the general meeting of the 
Caciques, whilst Colonel Garcia encamped with his 
little party on the borders of a lake, where it was 
determined that the grand parlamento, or parley, 
was to be held. Thither they Were attended by a 
friendly old cacique, Lincon, whom Garcia had 
known and made ar friend of on his former expedi- 
lion, and to whose advice and assistance they were 
in the sequel very essentially indebted. From him 
they learnt that the chiefs of the Ranqueles were 
far from peaceably disposed, or inclined to take 
part in aiiy treaties with the government of Buenos 
Ayres for their lands; and that there existed gene- 
rally amongst the IiMtfiiS^ much jealousy and dis- 
trust of the Spaniai-d^rfei ^'Onsequence of the mea- 
sures they had of late been taking with respect to 
them. He warned them, also, not to be surprised 



134 MARTIAL APPEARANCE 

at any warlike display which might be made at the 
approaching meeting, as it was probable that the 
Caciques would avail themselves of the opportunity 
to show the number of fighting men they could 
command. 

It was fortunate they had some siieh notice of 
what they were to expect ; for when, in two or three 
days afterwards, the Indians assembled, they cerr 
tainly made an appearance much more like a general 
gathering of armed forces I01? war than, of nego- 
ciators for peace. • ' ?^ nri 

On the day appointed for the general conference, 
a body of about 200 men made their appearance 
at an early hour, formed in battle array, and slowly 
advancing towards the commissioners' tents to the 
sound of horns (cornetas). On arriving vrithin a 
short distance, they broke into small parties, utter- 
ing loud shouts, and charging over the plain, making 
cuts and thrusts in the air right and left with their 
tswords and lances, and then wheeling about and 
riding round and round their leader, who apparently 
directed these manoeuvrings. The principal object 
of all this, the commissioners were told, was to drive 
away the gualichu, or evil spirit, whose secret pre- 
sence they apprehended might otherwise maliciously 
influence the approaching negociations. 

The trappings of some of the horses of these 
warriors were curiously ornamented with beads, and 
hung about with little bells. Several of them wore 



OF THE INDIANS. 135 

a sort of heWet^itad abrf coatiog well 

prepared as to be pjerfectly soft and flexible, though 
several times double ; the helmets made of it are so 
tough as to resist tte fii^t of a sword, and sometimes 
are bullet-proof. 

} This was but the admnc^d^guard of a ^umei?ous 
host which afterwards came in >yi^Wi jO®\c^ilpgxvthje 
horizon, and making really a very imposing ap- 
pearance. Altogether there might be something 
more than 3000 fighting men regularly marshalled 
under their respective Caciques in nine divisions. 
Though these Indians belonged to the soi-disant 
friendly tribeSiithef commissioners could not fail to 
be struck at once with the quantity of arms a^d 
accoutrements amongst them, which were manir 
festly the spoils of war and of their own countrymen 
murdered on the frontiers. Their whole demeanour, 
too, was insolent ^and aiTogaiit in the extrerne^ paa|- 
taking infinitely more of defiance Ibip f#iiy fie§,l 
desire for a permanent peace, which caused many 
misgivings to Garcia iand;J^i§>:ofe;eirg^s,|g^^|i^^e^^t 
of their mission. ^ ., ?..,,.,, , . , .; . b^^i >^niL 

After a variety of martial manoeuyring|S^:ijC)ij,,a 
given signal a great circle was formed, in the midst 
of which the Ulmenes or principal Caciques, taking 
their places, commenced the parlamento by a pre- 
liminary discussion amongst themselves as to 
whether or not they should enter into any negocia- 
tions whatever with the government of Buenos 
Ayres without the Ranqueles. On this point there 



were great differences of opiniony the na5st sagacious 
of the speakers shrewdly prognosticating, that, 
unless the peace was to be a general one, it was 
useless to enter into it, inasmuch as, if hostilities 
continued between the Spaniards and any of the 
tribes, the rest eould hardly fail, sooner or later, to 
be involved in them. The majority, however, only 
kniddti^ to share at once the presents which they 
understood the Spaniards to have brought with 
them, and of which they probably feared that any 
co-operation of the Ranqueles tribes would deprive 
them of a portion, called aloud for an immediate 
treaty, and the commissioners were conducted, 
almost by force, to the place of deliberation, where 
a scene of great confusion took place, every one 
desirous to speak at once, and calling for the pre- 
lents. The circle was broken^ and, the Indians 
rushing in upon them, the officers with difficulty 
extricated themselves from the press.^d ;fi Jxiguodi^ sd 
io After a time the authority of the Caciques wal 
£«@sl6red, and the conference resumed ; the sole re^ 
!^lt of which was, that the majority present insisted 
upon treating at once with the Buenos Ayreans on 
their own account, after which they said the com- 
missioners might proceed to negociate, as they 
could, separately with the Huilliches, or southern 
tribesf and with the Ranqueles. Ml this was rathef 
a dictation, on the part of the Indians, than any 
mutual agreement ; but it was evident there was to 
be no alternative, and the commissioners, putting 



X jOsBV THE NEGOTIATION).^ 137 

"ttenbest face Upon it, proceeded to distribute the 
greater part of the presents they had brought fdr 
tJhe occasion, — the possession of which, it was per* 
fectly clear^ was the main, if not the sole object of 
the savages in entering at all into discussions with 
them. These Indians all called themselves Pampas 
and Auca^^^sl ,A^he latter term, which signifies wa??i 
nors, seems to be assumed by many of the tribes of 
Araucanian Origin^* In the course of their parleys 
with them, so far fi-om finding them disposed, as 
fjrarcia had flattered himself, to treat for a new and 
^ore advanced boundary-line, they vehemently 
complained of the encroachments already made by 
the Buenos Ayreans, and insisted upon their witht 
drawing the establishments already formed to the 
south of tlie Salado. Garcia found it useless to 
argue with them ; and, as his personal safety would 
probably have been endangered by a positive refusal^ 
he thought it better to temporize, and to promise to 
lay their representations before the government of 
Buenos Ayres on his return, contenting himself to 
stipulate that there should be peace in the mean 
time. 

Having obtained all they could get, the CaciqueB 
took their leave, leading off their followers to theiij 
respective toldoS'^iiilEte next day they were suo 
ceeded by anOtiier and distinct party pf-tte 

* Villarifio found the Indians in the Cordillera opposite to Valdivia 
calling themselves Aucases. 



138 THE HUILLICHES 

Huillichesri OFT SDuthiton people, who, thougk sum- 
moned to the general conference, had not been able 
to arrive in time to take part in it. This tribe pre- 
sented even a more martial appearance than the 
others, and Colonel Garcia, describing them, says, 
no regiment of cavalry could have made a more 
regular or better figure than these strikingly fine 
n)e0>i ^They were naked from the waist upwards, 
and wore a sort of helmet surmoimted by feathers (a 
distinguishing feature in the dress of this tribe), 
j^hieh added to their extraordinary stature. Their 
Gaiciqn© Llampilco, or the black, was upwards of 
seven feet high, and many others were equal to 
him, and even taller. Most of them were armed 
with very long lances, and, like the pampas tribes, 
had their faces bedaubed with red and black paint; 
but their language was different, and, Garcia says, 
identical with that of the people from the southern 
part of Patagonia, from whom he imagines them 
to have sprung, and to the old accounts of whose 
height he refers.* He speaks of them as a superior 
and finer race of men in every respect than the 
others ; admirable horsemen, and brave in war, 
without the cruelty of the pampas tribes, sparing 

. * Garcia seems to have believed that the language and origin of this 
people was different from the other Indians he fell in with. There is 
no proof, however, adduced of the difference of language, and I sus- 
pect they were only a further-removed hranch of the Araucanian 
family, as were the Indians Viedma found at San Julian's in 1782. 



BETTER DISPOSED. 189 

their prisoners/Ad treating strangers with kind! 
ness and iiospitality. They had come from the 
lands south of the Ventana, about the rivers Colo- 
rado and Negro, where they had located themselves, 
according to their own account, to avoid collision 
with the Spaniards, with wliomrthey professed their 
great desire to establish a solid peace. They spoke 
with contempt and detestation of the marauding 
habits of the pampas tribes and of the Ranqueles, 
and offered at any time to assist in chastising them. 
This party consisted of 420 fighting men. They 
conducted themselves very differently from the 
others, and with great propriety, receiving thank- 
fully what was given to them. 

After their departure, the commissioners removed 
to the lake where the Cacique Lincon's people were 
located, and which bore his name. Its situation 
was about five leagues from the mountain-range 
beyond, something more than three to the west of 
that on which the conferences had been held, and 
about five and a half from one named after Pichi- 
loncoy, another friendly Cacique, of whom more 
hereafter. From this place, looking to the north- 
west, one boundless plain presented itself to the 
eye. The Ventana mountain bore south-west, ex- 
tending its lesser ramifications to the west-south- 
west, as far as the Curumuala, a small group of 
hills which may be seen running west to the more 
elevated range of Guamini ; an extensive plain 



14(1 HABTTI^^Or tHE Ptrfitt^ES. 

mhkln^^^imeM 4M7f .tp^ higi^^t p^M of the 
@«feffifial ll^^^««^^' 10^ north, and was lost in the 
boundless pampas beyond. > ^^^^^ ti^iiJoaa oi t^o^iiif 
A stay here for a few days ggve'^f hem ^S tolerable 
insiglit into the manners and customs of the natives. 
Nothing' eould exceed the laziness and brutality, in 
general, of the men, who, looking upon the women 
as inferior beings, treated them as the most abject 
&ves. Not only were they obliged to attend to all 
the ordinary duties of the family, but upon them 
also devolved the care of their husbanxls' horses, and 
even the tending of the sheep and cattle . Poligamy 
vi^as permitted, and, according to his means, it ap^* 
peared that a man kept niorei or less wives, which, 
^6 far from causing jealousy, seemed generally a 
§&urce of satisfaction to the ladles themselves, inas- 
Mifeh as it led to the lightening by subdivision of 
their domestic labours. Unless engaged in some 
pi^edatory excursion^^ §§^>M hunting deer and gua- 
Meoes, and other smaller animals, for their skins, 
the men seemed to pass their whole time in sleep- 
fog, drinking, and gambling, the habitual vices 
§f all the tribes :— they are passionately fond 
of cards, which they obtain- from the Spaniards, 
and will play for evei^-^t-^diee, Avhich they make 
themselves ingeniously enoughVand, like gamesters 
te other parts^ of the world, \vill stake their all upon 
^ throw, reckless of reducing their families to utter 
destitution. 



^:iPIEIR SUPERSTITION.^ |^^ lH 

, fla each toldo, or tent, which is made of hides 
stretched upon canes, and easily removeable from one 
place to another, five or |ix families, barely sepa<t 
rated from each other> perhaps twenty or thirty 
persons in all, were closely huddled together in the^ 
most horrible state of filth imaginable ; indeed, in 
many respects, they were but little removed in theii^ 
habits from the brute creation. If fuel was scarc% 
as was often the case in the pampas, they cared not 
to cook their meat, but ate it raw, and always 
drank the warm blood of every animal they killed 5 
— like beasts of prey, there was no part, even to the 
contents of the stomach and intestines, which they 
would not greedily devour. rfj g i^dl beiiJdq 

They were superstitious in the extreme, and the 
credulous dupes and tools of a few artful men, whc^ 
are to be found in every tribe, and in reality 
direct all its concerns by pretending to foretell thff^ 
future, and jto divine the ^u§e of every evil. They 
^j-j^i,! called macMs, or wizards, and there is nq 
tribe without them, and which does not implicitly 
submit to their decisions and advice. Their word 
is law, and the Cacique even, equally with the 
rest, submits to it. The commissioners themselves 
were nearly made the victims of the malice of some 
of these wretches, who probably anticipated a share? 
of the plunder, if they could have induced theij^ 
countrymen to destroy them. The old Cacique> 
named Pichiloncoy, already mentioned as living 
near the toldos of Lincon, and whose life was of 



J42 THB lUACHIS, OR WIZARDS. 

great consequence to Ms trrbeyfeJl^eriously ill, and, 
according to custom, the machis were assembled to 
pronounce on the nature of his complaint, and to 
denounce those whose evil machinations or influence 
could have reduced him to such a state, for in all 
such cases some one must be responsible, and, once 
denounced, his life is seldom spared if the patient dies. 
Ill I'this case the machis unanimously ascribed th# 
old Cacique's illness to the presence of the Christian»^ 
who, they declared, had brought the Gualichu, or 
evil spirit, with them, probably deriving the notion 
from the report spread by their guides respecting 
the supernatural powers of the instruments they 
were known occasionally to consult, i if the old 
man had not fortunately recovered it might have 
gone hard with them, for their lives would cer- 
tainly have been in great peril. As Garcia observes, 
it would have been a pretty ending of their embassy 
to have been sacrificed to the manes of old Pichi* 
loncoy by the mad machis. 

Notwithstanding the excessive nastiness and filth 
of their general habits, the women seldom failed to 
perform their daily ablutions, repairing the first thing 
in the morning to the neighbouring lake to bathe 
with their children, although the cold was so in- 
tense, that the snow nightly beat through their tents 
during the whole time the commissioners were 
there. Amongst these females were some Chris^ 
tian girls, captives, whose fair skin was but too 
strong evidence of their origin, and who seemed 



uClHRISTIAN CAPTIVES. 143 

ftoBi hslbilpili^ r sufffeSr tas^ little? immi Ae severity of 
the cold as their dusky mistresses. Their unfor^ 
tunate lot excited the strongest feelings on the part 
•of the commissioners, whose interposition to obtaim 
their liberation they pleaded for, as well they might, 
with tears and the most earnest entreaties. Nor 
were the officers backward in urging upon the 
Caciques every argument to induce them to give 
tbem up ; but it was amongst the greatest of their 
disappointments to find all their efforts on this point 
unavailing. The Caciques declared they had no 
power in a case touching the spoils of war, which, 
according to their laws, were the sole property of 
the individual captors, to whom they referred them 
to make the best bargain they could. These brutes, 
on being applied to, demanded in general so ex-* 
travagant a ransom as to destroy at once every hope 
on the part of the poor women themselves of its ever 
being raised, their relatives in general being of the 
labouring classes employed in the estancias on the 
frontier; in many cases they too wei-e no longer 
in existence, having perished in the same inroads 
of the savages which had deprived theni of their 
hberty;«yf *)>^ ^drh>i^<^ ^dt o? t erfl nj 

In expectation that the treaties to be made with 
the Indians would have led to the immediate libera* 
tion of all prisoners, some poor people had obtained 
leave to follow in the train of the commissioners, in 
the hope of finding their wives and daughters, and 



144 THE INDIANS REFUSE 

carrying them back witfc tlieiii;! asjd almost affect- 
ing sight it was, as may 1 well be imagined, to wit- 
ness their meeting again, and tender embraces after 
so cruel a separation ; but it was piteous indeed to 
behold their subsequent despair on finding that the 
interference of the commissioners was unavailing, 
Iknd that the purchase-money demanded for the pri- 
sonem was totally beyond what they could ever hope 
to raise. The parting again of these poor people 
was perhaps one of the hardest trials to which 
human nature could be subjected. Husbands and 
fathers forced to leave their wives and daughters to 
the defilement of brutal savages, with scarce a 
^pe of ever being able to obtain theii* release ; it 
cneed hardly be said that force was necessary to 
separate them,^ and to restrain the men from acts of 
violence which might have, conpp^oijgefl Jh^^^^^^ty 
aof the whole parKpo ^rlt noiioivrroa sidi isbrrlj 
:tonI^tslavery as carried on by Chriatian .nations ap- 
t^peofsiiSoeJiHEVolting to all our better feelings, and 
mxdites our f strongest sympathies on behalf of the 
iMegro, whose condition, after all, is often per- 
-haps in reality ameliorated by being brought under 
the jH'Otection of humane lawsvaj^d within the pale 
of Christianity, what muHtjil: be when the case is 
reversed, when the Christian woman, brought up in 
at least the decent and domestic habits of civilized 
society, falls into the power of a savage, whose 
home is the desert, and who, though little removed 



TO GIVE'-'TH^MI: UPr^' 141 

in his bvriiilmBit^^ froitiii/ Mkst c^ff^-ey?^ footed ^own 
upon the weaker sex as an inferior race, only made 
to be subject to Ms brutal will and caprice I'sdi t.-^sa 

Though the unhappy condition of these poor 
women excited the sensibility of the commissioners 
for an instant, it roused also their more manly feel* 
ings, and satisfied them that the government of 
Buenos Ay res owed it t^lite^^iv honour, rand to 
humanity, to act with energy, and make some effort 
of force to rescue these poor victims from the con- 
sequences of their own supine and too lenient policy. 
It was indeed evident that any attempt to secure a 
permanent and satisfactory state of peace would be 
futile without such a demonstration as would act 
upon the fears of the Indians, and oblige them to 
submit to such terms as the government ^ might de- 
termine to impose upon theni. fihhn li'iifru 

Under this conviction the officers would have 
returned>5lafccmeek) Buenos Ayr es, had they not 
been earnestly solicited by the inhabitants of some 
other toldos about the Sierra Ventana to visit them 
before their departure ; a request they acceded to in 
the hope of its enabling them to acquire some geo- 
graphical information with regard to that range, ^^i ft 

On the 2nd they set out with old Lincon, who in- 
sisted upon escorting them as far as the place of ren- 
dezvous. Their course lay west-south-west, through 
an undulating country, rich in pasturage, and studded 
with small lakes, about which were generally found 
small groups of Indians with their cattle. These 

L 



146 EXAMINATION OF 

lakes ill the summer season are fel* rt|ifi toost part 
dr|r^0odi.t}ieii the Indians remove within reach of the 
mountain^streams. Towai*ds evening they pitched 
Ibeir tents on the banks of a stream called the 
Quetro-eique, the Ventana about two and a half 
league s distant, where they found a large encamp- 
ment of Indians, who received them with rejoicings. 
As far as the eye could reach the plains were 
covered with their cattle and sheep. / ^81 dtnoa siod 
^j Whilst waiting for the assembling of the'Oaciques, 
Ihe officers devoted two or three days to surveying: 
fallowing up the Quetro-eique about three and a half 
.teagues, they traced it to its sources on the side of the 
Ventana. The height of the principal mountain, so 
called, they determined by measurement to be 2500 
feet above the level of the plain from which it 
rises.* To the north-west a chain of low hills 
Mxt^ute as far as a break by which they are 
separated from the minor group called the Curu- 
muala. Throiigh this break run two small streams, 
^he oi^e called Ingles-malhuida, from the circum- 
stance of an Englishman having been put to death 
by the Indians there, the other Malloleufii, or the 
White River ; the course of both is from south- 
'westvto north-east, running nearly parallel with the 
Quetro-eique, and all, according to the Indian ac- 
counts, losing themselves in extensive marshes be- 
yond. The rivers Sauce-grande and Sauce-chico, 

* Captain Fitzroy determined it to be 3350 feet above the level of 
the sea, from which its true distance is 45 miles. 



THE SIERRA VENTANA. 147 

which fall into Bahia Blaiica^ rise from the southern 
declivities of this range, according to the samb autho- 
rity. Beyond the Curumuala is the group of the 
Guamini, the most westerly part of this range. An 
observation taken from their tents on the Quetro- 
eique gave the latitude 37° 50',- longitude from 
Cadiz 56° 20'; and thence a clear day gave them 
a general view of the whole range. The Ventana 
bore south 18° west, prolonging its ramifications to 
south 40° west. The Curumuala south 60° west, 
extending to 80°. The Guamini extended through 
30° as far as west 10° north. The whole range 
may be described as running from south-south-east 
to north-north-west. The variation by repeated 
calculations was 18° 30% at the other range it had 
been found as stated to be 17° 10^ a»d at^t-he^Lake 
of Polvadei-as 16°30'east^ :^n sdi oT - 
^ When the Caciques and their followers were all 
assembled thei'fe might be about 1500 men, who 
were paraded by their chiefs much in the same 
manner as before described. The same ceremonies 
to drive away the gualichu, and the same prelimi- 
nary discussions amongst themselves, before they 
commenced their parleys with the officers; and these 
terminating precisely in the same unsatisfactory and 
indefinite manner. The presents it was evident were 
the only obj edt& contemplated - by 4he savages , and , 

* At Buenos Ayres the variation in 1708 was 16° 45' east; in 1789 
it was 16° 30'; and in 1813 it was 12i east. 

l2 



148 FAILURE OE THE MISSION. 

Af Len these wei-e - ^t^ ^ro^^joe^d quite so quickly as 
^y expected/ an ratteinpt was made to seize them 
by force, and the officers themselyes would h§.;Nfe; been 
stripped, if not sacrificed, had not old Lititcefn bravely 
protected them, and killed upon the spot with his 
own hand two of the most forward of the assailants; 
cowed by the old man's intrepidity, and the prepara- 
tions of their escort to defend themselves, the wretches 
slunk away, and so ended in blood and confusion the, 
labours of the commissionffrs. To old Lincon they 
owed theii' lives, and subsequent safety on their road 
back to Buenos Ayres, whither they were glad to 
return as fast as they could, under an escort fur- 
nished by him and some of the more friendly tribesj 
^f the HuillicheSfjg9i ^s^i^sb niBt-iSD b oi ,bm ,^smii 
1^ Their route homewai-d was by s thcrSierra Amarillav 
on the eastern slope of wdiicli rises the river Barancas, 
which they followed some way : before it emerges 
%om the mountains it is joined by the Quetro-leufu^l 
and both together form the Tapalquen. Beyond th^r 
Sierra Amarilla was seen that group called by the 
natives the Huellucalel, from which proceeds the 
river Azul, the waters of wjh^cli, •running paraliei 
with those of the TorralnelHi^ai?L§4f> Chapaleofu, .atF(3r 
Lost in the marshes sixteen or twenty leagues dis- 
tant towards the Salado. Crossing the Tapalquenj. 
they once more found the beaten track to the Guardia, 
del IMonte, Avhich they reached in safety on the 28th 
of May, after an absence of about six weeks. .M,,s(for* 



MILITARY tkPEDltlbM/ ^ 149 



r^commeiSle($^lS^tKea#Snge or^€fi¥i[^ should 
Be at onci^ tospfe^lfe the boundary oif the province^ 
ift that dfr%^i^n^/%ftd that a chain of military post^ 
^ould be -^taMished upon it, extending from tM 
sea-coast as f^r west as the Laguna Blanca, with^^a? 
sufficient force to overawe the savages and afford^ 
efficient protection to such settlements as might be' 
made within that M^^<^ ii^ ^'^y^^-' os imu ,xi^wi> Houis 
V The governmefiW at^%^^¥6t[^6a^^t<^'^thV mmM 
tten of the '^eSe^^y of some vigorous demonstra- 
tion of physi(caK#rce, in order to re-establish somei'^ 
thing like th^t salutary fear of the superior military' 
power and di^ci^ifi^fe of^^hfe* Ohr^rians, which, in old' 
times, had, to a certain degree, restrained and kept 
the savages in order, adopted the suggestion, and 
preparations on a considerable scale were made fof 
carrying it into efffiect. The construction of a fbr-^ 
tificatio^^^>idto^^'Midii was determined upon, anff 
the gbVe:ffl)r M$^i^l§f prepared to superintend the 
work, and^dtt^ti^cfieM against the savages with an 
adequate l^^ifee/^^'tf^e * little army assembled for this 
purpose was ready to march about the close of Feb- 
ruary, l^fel^^KcfeMstfed of 2500 men, seven pieced 
oipiurffl^ysl vi)4tt9W^ cmsm^i^me^^mipMiment of 
carts and^Tvaggonsyand^fevei'ifelfe^ 9,^^^kfe for th^ 
establishment of a pernianeiit'%illWaiy ^seVflement. 

Instead of following the track of Garcia and his 
companions, by the Tapalquen, after a consultation 



150 DANGERS ON THE 

with some guides, who professed 'to fe^well ac- 
quainted with the intervening country^ General 
Rodriguez determined upon mai-ching direct across 
it to the Tandil ; an attempt, as it proved, more ad- 
venturous than prudent. On the 10th of March the 
troops left the Guardia del Monte, and had hardly- 
crossed the Salado when they found themselves in 
the midst of apparently interminable sWamps, thickly 
set with canes and reeds higher than their horses' 
heads. It was with great difficulty that the wag- 
gons and artillery were dragged through ; neverthe- 
less they floundered onwards as far as u lake, to 
which, from the clearness of its waters^ they gave 
the name of Laguna Limpia ; but there it became 
absolutely necessary to halt in order to reconnoitre 
the country before proceeding further. So far they 
had been grossly misled by their guides, whose only 
knowledge of the country it appeared had been ac- 
quired in excursions in quest of nutrias, which 
little animals are found in vast numbers in these 
swamps ; but nutria catching and the march of an 
army accompanied by heavy waggons and artillery 
are very different things, and the wonder is that all 
the guns and baggage were not left behind in the 
bogs. ^* The' marshes themselves are formed by the 
streams which run into them from the hilly ranges 
further south^ and which seem not to have sufficient 
power to force their way through the low lands 
either to the Salado or to the sea-coast. Begin- 



MARCH SOUTHWARD. 151 

ning from the morass in whicli the Tapalquen joins 
the Flores, they extend far eastward, and render 
useless a considerable tract of country south of the 
Salado. ,^ 1 

The scouts returning brought accounts that they 
had found the river Chapeleofu, the course of which 
it was detennined to follow to the Tandil, where 
it was known to rise ; but they had hardly left 
the Laguna Limpia when they were beset by a 
new danger, which, for a short time, threatened a 
frightful termination to the expedition. A sweep- 
ing wind blew towards them clouds of dense smoke, 
foUowedf rbj^, i^ayr vitst lurid blaze^ extending across 
the horizon, and indicating but too clearly the a|>| 
proach of one of those dreadful conflagrations, not 
uncommon in the pampas after dry weather, when 
the long dry grass, and canes and thistles, readily 
igniting, cause the flames to extend rapidly over the 
whole face of the country, involving all in one 
common and harribte destruction. The gauchos, 
on the first indication of danger, have sometimes 
sufficient presence of mind to set fire immediately 
to the grass to leeward, by which they clear a 
space on which to take refuge before the general 
conflagration reaches them ; but there is not always 
time to do this, much less to save the cattle and 
sheep, great nvnnbers of which perish in the de- 
vouring element. Upon the present occasion the 
guides seem to have lost their wdts as well as their 
way ; and, but for the fortunate discovery of a 



I3^i ABUNDANDHIOF GAME. 

simHllaMcdlj^ai tfeal^ iaatcc^ wMckWemrsaiid bea^^^ 
alike e^iiisiledi idKaggmg? tteaosiia^zwitir/ithem, the 
whold dKiisyawoiildiiliaE^e bfeea>mvjolved in the same 
tragical end. There, up to thedr necks in the 
water, they remained for three hews, during which 
the fire-storm raged frightfully round them, and 
then, for want of further fuel, subsiding, left a deso- 
lated? iwp^^ as^ Arncis itfefesJey©^ eould-nEeBieh, covered 
wiiii a^lia^k gtft^uiirt'o<fiMnde»aM[a^i&.9hmiM m 

QiyPk ^r ii Jte^j^Bsdfeag^rsin tfa H ajaa^rro* 
m¥fieh9iM(mgi9tii0 #?estdpai[ia»k-ofsihe:*Ghapeleofu;' 
tl]|*i(5tJgh->age€wa'ii*i9jtiti^ich limproVied^seR^ery step they 
adHr^iijiedr/towaiMs i^he9:feieri?a^ bEypnodbanEflEturesque 
and fertile, the lands seemed only to require to be 
taken poises^sion of to form a mosft^^aluiahle addition 
to the territory of Buenos Ayres. The wandering 
tribes of Indians usually dwelling there had, to alL 
appearafice, aJ^andoned them, and withdrawn furtheiB 
sduMi, no d ouBt^ iiqsla^ lat/ dhee p'teparations made 
byi tBe Spaniard f^ ca^apy theimsls 910111 sdt sniAp. 

.The wilcb ^atoebea^Jam^ fcb^ivdfeei^ and ' the 
ostriches railgedsinBitteffsawfe :s)5rk? Ae-^-piitstures of 
their native regionw^i, afad§ mrifeh hares, pai-tridges, and? 
armadiiyies, aaffoir d ed 1 mbtasdanfe fjsporjtr to those seirti 
out to slflriA fthdaid liBoriJisnmeflidays; the army 
was talMao^ Jintiiely^ subsisted 3*iiiif>o(moithawi^ i^^iiafcr 
qilaEttities ofufifnii^dijloes, especialiy/jwerea;eaught by 1 
the soldiers. One memorable afternoon's chase is 
recorded, in which upwards of 400 were taken; 
and a more delicate dish lhamv'4)njfe^i.io£ these little 



RIVER CHAPELEOFlfA 15^3 

animals, roasteiidiilliiib own shell, I will venture;^ 
from my ubwifliwxperience, to say, is not to be lm6ii 
in any -pairti dfethe^iworldy The rivers and lakes^ 
swarmed \4dih wild and water-fowl of every sort^l 
named and nameless, from the snipe to the beautiful 
black-necked swan peculiar to that part of the 
world.% fisl ,'§aibiadiJ8 ^hui -isdi'iu} 1o ;^fl^w lol ^asdi 
1 An obaeiwatibfuowas^^aMn son the Chapel^i^I 
in latitude.^iaBlffiB^I^^ shortly after which Sim 
army left: :its:>«oup£^6 and marched eastward to the 
Tandil, whei*©il[|iie1i)encamped, and whence the sur- 
veying officers iBecMnQidfred the surrounding country, 
and determined] uppmf ^hmjmeshraBmmmY fortifirs 
cation.9'ii]jp9'i ot ^^iao bsmesa abrml edS .aliJisl has 
The poiitioiiBiDffstte rfortio^ottslcuetg^alhifqe nfeisl 
been fixed b^ rep^atM t)bse&aJioi^orf8islatiitid6t 
87° 21' 43"; longitude, west ^rf^jfeifends Ayres^j 
39' 4"; variation 15° east. It standssflH^pSD a smalfe 
eminence, one of a (Ji)^ferffgKQBpiidf5.nhills whicha 
skirts the more elevated range? h^jbrnd, and fronrj 
which it is divided by the bed of a streamlet, 
which, after passing the works about a quarter 
(M a league to the eastward, and being joined 
byitmnother from the westward, forms the river/> 
Tandil, which runs north till lost in the marsheso 
in that dii'ffii^tion already spoken of. It is screenedr/ 
tqut^ijvrasfe'iand north-west by a range of hills 

* A collection of the birds of those regions would form a most 
interesting addition to any museum. A large proportion of them 
are, I believe ,^ quite unknown in Europe. 



154 RANGE OF THE TANDIL. 

rising iSDO^ or i 4(D feet above it/ the summits of 
which are strewed with large masses of quartzose 
rock, having a very remarkable appearance when 
seen from a distance. The highest part of the 
range of the Tandil, about two leagues to the 
south-east of the fort, was ascertained to be about 
1000 feet above the level of a small stream which 
runs along its base. It is visible from a distance of 
forty miles. The height of this part of the range 
gradually falls off till lost in a wide plain or vale, 
about twelve miles eastward of the fortification. 
^*' The climate in winter was found to be very cold ; 
the prevailing winds from the south and south-west.* 
In the month of April the thermometer was twice 
1J° below freezing-point ; but variations of 20° and 
even 30° in the course of the day were of common 
occurrence. In that month (April) the highest of 
thse tliermometer was 68°, the lowest 28 J° ■; in May 
the highest was 61°, the lowest 31° ;dn June the 
highest was 72°, the lowest 39' ; in July the highest 
was 79°, the lowest 41°. In the summer the heat 
was almost insufferable^ particularly in the low 
lands: but in- the spring and autumn, which are 
the best seasons^ the weather was found temperate 
and very agreeable. > s booasmmoo aiad has ; iism 
L Whilst the fort was buildin^i^ *hByiKndil, 

,^ * An accident to the barometer prevented the officers making a 
series of observations v^ith that instrument, which would have been 
of considerable interest. They made, however, good use of the ther- 
mometer, of which a daily register was preserved. 



INDIAN DUPLICITY. 155 

communications were opened with the Indians re- 
siding near the Ventana, proposing to them to 
join in active operations against the Rariqueles 
tribes — tlie Spaniards thinking, as on other occa- 
sions, to involve the tribes in war with each other, 
and to profit by the weakening of both parties ; but 
the Indians were this time upon their guard. They 
saw clearly enougb that the march of such an army 
into their territory could have only one object,^ — the 
forcible occupation of their lands, — ^and they took 
their measures accordingly with their usual astute- 
ness and cunning. Assenting, apparently, to the 
general propositions made to them, they invited ilm 
Buenos Ayrean general to repair with his principal 
officers to the neighbourhood of the Ventana, there 
to enter into the definitive treaties. They probably 
hoped by some ruse to get the governor himself into 
their hands, and were greatly disappointed at his 
only sending his second in command. General 
Rondeau, to treat with them. Rondeau marched 
into their territory with a force of 1000 men, pass- 
ing to the west of the Tinta mountains, and, after 
going some distance, was met by the principal Ca4 
ciques, with a large assemblage of their fighting 
men ; and here commenced a negociation, in which 
the Buenos Ayrean general was fairly outwitted. 
The Indians, affecting distrust, proposed that some 
officers of consequence should be sent to them as 
hostages during the conferences, offering, on their 
part, to place some of their principal Caciques in 



156 THE ^^UtCAN MOUINTAIN. 

^ ^^^e^i^^ri^ihm ^mmi. beRcmdfeaiic'iMIt into the 
snare, and took hisBJpf^atijesrs0iik3dily^?t;hat,^^^^b 
ii^j.^:^^km§e(uWmiW§im aHfefuafficers s^era sud- 
dfBily made prisoners, and carried off at a gallop,* 
^veloped by a cloud of Indians, who were soon^ 
(^t of sight. His cavalry was in no condition to 
%llow the savages into the pampas, Adobe ^^affe&^^ 
turned to the Tandil with the convretioli that > ttof 
]g^e}ches tribes, as well as the Ranqueles, were 
combined in one and the same determination to 
ha,xe ijim r^,y3oipv^Jrieixily. ioteriiaurse^ with- the Chris^ * 
ti§f5S. .-gaixmis liadi tn9V9-iq oi 9'ijbo qUjH ^ud «9'rriro 
"ficAfteftdtWSi^ffiAt totMn gdf uiifehet* ^^ia^ attempted, 
ei^Jifi^pl Ifei^i^aoiitlfeqJartycio esLpiore tke continua- 
t^^ ^uiMl mn^9ii^'iihLe> §^aiaiBot<bfltJi^£^6a8tl Itf^ 
\yfey^th^[^lojifetg tos9tKfe ]!3bs!4Uj.08 isdhn'i bnji ,^d 
It has he^m'SA^^y\ismif>tMkstlomio^^i 6inn}^^ 
'?toftifepS!iMfe%(dteMrfie^>IOiitB[e m^kia^^M broken 
%{^ lJ9(teMteiwMA$faMa>Betices tafooaii)^^^ miles* 
f|pm f 1^ tim^Yfe^^^fi^^^ioBsJ. to yeilfedni quiestion ex^« 
t#fe4^ {^i^S^i^^mt^es^i&s^^^a^MkQ-dmsiiiy streams 
rv^ thr^u^ ^Afc9fM6riMite¥ bsfiu^^idk^^isciini ng to* 
wards the cal^sf^feH iBiQ^hofoB^ajitiroy^^ the greater^ 
f^rt of them areilfsM hi ?i wimps I&itie low landsi 
\flj|ch intervene. Itrii^ ifcfe gce^eteBtxvbreak in the 
chain, and, from its rich pastures, a (favourite resort^ 
of the Indians. They call it the Vuulcan, which* 
signifies, in their language, an opening ; and thence 
the sierra, which bounds it to the eastward, also 
takes, ^jiUlil 3a^e. ylKln many maps^-itil is . written 



OLBIJEMIOTI^S^MBWSIIMENT. 157 

Volcan, #MckfifiiBS^>lfe(l teit»tteeg mihrk)u^M%. ^ 
tkt^fe being a wM^n®gia^tb©jg#c|iarf^ iool h£iB .msas 
From tbe MuMfeanstMe i^Saig^ riifl^in9^.%^%Mio^l* 
line for thirty-six miles tJward^'^tte'l'fel, 'p^Ssenlmg,^ 
for the most part, towards the north the appearance o# 
a steep dyke oDiwall. On the summits are extensive? 
ranges of tabj^jaiid:|/v0€ll wtered, and #lfli ^gdoi^ 
pasturage,itoijvriwtetke? Indians, who afe #efe%¥-^^ 
quainted MtjbifilKfe erkggy ravines which alone lea5 
to them, are in t!ie babit of driving their horses and? 
cattle, knowing that tlie nature of ^be ground re^^ 
quires but little care to prevent their straying. At^ 
a short 4btaiM?€r 'fodniultl^ficfe^ tiii^ feilW brBak off 
in stony rid^s, BUokfBg A)Vtto>€p the sea, and form-' 
ing the headfend of Gape Corrientes, in latitude 38°' 
6', and further south a line of rocky cliffs, which^ 
bounds thei^hiOi»© as far as Cape Andres. 
' n Upon fc iborders of a lake a short distance froni 
Gape ■■Gofei0lito:/faB^cdi8CSWiered the'vrdlMil^^^ #hW^ 
settlem^iy:-fm*miBd!bytiib Jesuits in the year 1747, — a 
site chosen wiifca^llthemA^'acteristic sagacity, well 
suited for an agi»icdltuM eslkblishment, of easy ac-i 
cess to the sea, and with great capability of bein^^ 
rendered defensible. Itfism ;tolkiwg proof of tM^ 
indomitable nature of the pam|)as tribes that alF 
thej'ieiforts of the mi^ionary fathers to reduce them 
to habits of order and industry only ended in dis^^ 
appointment, and, after years of fruitless endeavoursj^^ 
to their being obliged to fly from an establishment^ 
where their lives were no longer safe. The Indians of 



158 THE COAST examined; 

tKe pampas, like the Arabs of the desert^; inseparable 
from their horses, and wild as the animals they ride, 
were not, like the more docile people of Paraguay, 
to be subjected to the strict niles and discipline 
which it was the object of the fathers to introduce 
amongst them. The vestiges of their buildings, and 
the fruit-trees planted by them, are the only evi- 
dences remaining of their pious but unavailing 
labours.- - Jnioq j^iu oj y-^-^^^^^*^^ - 

Although this^^po^t 'wa§' Ili^aify'Ss^^fets a very 
inviting one for an agricultural settlement, it wanted 
the principal requisite of some tolerable roadstead 
ibto harbour to facilitate any direct communication 
fMm Buenos Ayres by sea with the new line of 
frontier, an objex!t of great importance if possible 
to secure. The coast was vainly explored in search 
of one from C^pe Con-ientes some way to the 
south, and to the north as far as the "great lake 
called the Mar-chiquita, which empties itself into 
the sea by a narrow channel, capable, perhaps, of 
being deepened by artificial means, so as to form 
a harbour for small vessels; but even this seemed 
extremely doubtful, and depending on a further ex- 
amination and survey, which the officers were not at 
the time prepared to undertake. ^^^"^'^'^^ ^^i 
^i^' Under these circumstances it was thought ad- 
visable to postpone the construction of any further 
works till a more accurate survey of the coast should 
be made. This was subsequently commenced, and 
carried as far as Bahia Blanca, which was re- 



AND FRONTIER LAID DOWN. 159 

ported to be the only situation from the Salado on 
all the line of coast intervening which combined a 
tolerable harbour for shipping with the capability of 
being made a good defensible position. Although 
this was far beyond the line of frontier at first con- 
templated, which only reached to the range of the 
Vuulcan and Tandil, other considerations eventually 
determined the government of Buenos Ayres to exiT 
tend their boundary to that point. Not only did it 
appear that Bahia Blanca was the only place ca- 
pable of bein g made a harbour on the coast, but the 
want of some such harbour to the south became 
more than ever apparent when the war broke out 
with Brazil, and the River Plate was placed undeit 
blockade by the emperor's fleet; and, although that 
war at first necessarily diverted the attention of the 
government of Buenos Ayres from the completion 
of their original plan, it forced upon them a more 
enlarged view of their position, and led to the final 
adoption of an infinitely better boundary-line than 
that which was first thought of merely as a checli 
upon the Indians. ^ 

The line in question, which was finally adopted 
in 1828, and which forms tlie present nominal li-on^ 
tier of the province of Buenos Ayres towards the 
pampas, will be found upon the map drawn about 
north- north-east from the fort built on the river 
Naposta, which falls into Bahia Blanca, to the La- 
guna Blanca, another point occupied as a military 
position, at the western extremity of the range of the 



1 60 WAR WITH WHE m DI ANS . 

l^€fldi^@ni|nthdMde iteEMS imfctlii jfeyilteifqi-t^df Cruz 
de Guerra to Melinque, the north-west point of the 
province. It will be obvious, on reference to the map, 
that, whilst this line embraced within it an infinitely 
greater extent of country than that at first projected, 
it was in reality, bein^ straight, ^ shorter one, and 
iequired less defiencesjthamthe ranges t)f^4he Tandil 
a}nxl'cV'imlx3anv)snpposing ^11 the passes to be fortified; 
-BiHhei'Whole area of the territory within this line 
aftH 'ttte Arr©yfir del Medio, which separates the 
pTO^&ce iof aBuenos Ay res" to the northward from 
^^t iofia^nta Fe, coinpri^i* about 75,000 square 
Eiig't^M iftii^. biuoo ^oaiiini ni ae:iai smog ; 8ir>sv; 
bfiTthri^toaafco^OcMl l^gftofeh itrorbo otertons of ac- 
^iflfl^ati^'rf)lf|[a(BQfoMgHtoifor'tMeir lands; whilst, 
n'fe^rMdiliely ^i "Wi^fjaffople on the frontier, the 
^Ml^-Bfli^dyfi^n^ifcrfeKi bd-oke out at the close of 
l^d^SraSlSaffa^afJ^diaiiimore drew off the forces 
^Hbi^ ge^^Mnknfto aM exposed them to the i^^ 
teadipiefvifeeifeaba^eji; before the foitifications on the 
fj^fi^r^d^uM b^350teipleted and sufficiently garri- 
s^riei fi$b theirff d^fice. The devastation they com- 
i^^^inPlil)n^equ^ttee was frightful ; but it was sig- 
fidlyW@fi^©diin 1832 and i838t bp General Rosas, 
trf^'/^ftllebbead of the largest force thai ever entered 
tiifeirterritory, m^rqhed southward as; far as the rivers 
Colorado and Negro, scoured thie whole intervening 
country, and put thousands of them to death. Many 
tribes were totally exterminated, and others fled to 
the Cordillera of Chile, where alone they were safe 



CAPTIVES RESCUED . t /. W 161 

from the pursuit of the eKasperateiferkndnmij^(Mrfl(99Qi 
so]diers.taroq t89w-ri*ion edi ^sirpnifsM ot misux) sb 
That ;t&te9®9eii0s iA>y»0a)ims(Jdiad M-iwpJi casserif©^ 
these hoatiiiiiefiirW«y hte'i^nd^eGkll ffhfti i^iYrrmd^ 
ber of GhrinK^B ^slah^es^^i^nhofHor^^^ ^&H€€eede*(J^in 
rescuing ft'om the haads of the savages ; upwards of 
1500 women and ehildreiiwere retaken by General 
Rosas' troops/ wiio had all been carried off in some 
or. other of their marauding incursions^ their hus- 
bands, sons, -and brothei-s having^^^ been in most in^ 
stances barbarouslyi butchered befope them. Many 
of these poor w^men had been in their hands foit 
years ; some taken in infancy could .gi!vei litfile of 
no account to whom they belonged ; others had 
become the wretched mothers of children brought 
up to follow the brutal mode of life of these bar- 
barians. General Rosas fixed his head-quarters 
on the river GoloradQufinsadiwi;^« feetween Bahi^i 
Blanca and the settlement of Carmen on th^ 
river Negro. Thence he detached a division of 
his forces, under General Pacheco, to the souths 
which established a military position on the CI1015 
leechel, now called Isla de Rosas, on the NegrOj? 
which river was followed to the junction of the 
Neuquen;? fj Aaiother detachment marched under the 
orders of General Ramos along ithe banks of the 
Colorado as far as latitude 36° and 10° longitude 
west of Buenos Ayres, according to his computation, 
from whence he saw the Cordillera of the Andes, 
and believed he was not more than thirty leagues 

M 



162 COURSE OF THE COLORADO. 

from Fort Rafael on the Diamante. Unfortunately 
not the slightest sketch was made of the course 
of this river, respecting which, therefore, we have 
no new data beyond a corroboration of the ac- 
counts obtained by Cruz, in 1806, of its being a 
great river, which i'uns^^i without iaaterruption direct 
froni the Cordillera to the sea.* Of the Negro, 
General Pacheco has been kind enough to send me 
a sketch, which strikingly confirms the general 
course of the river as laid do^vn by Mr. Arrowsmith, 

* 1 understand, however^ that General Ramos has expressed his 
opinion that it is not navigable for more than forty leagues from its 

^^^ ibdiisJk. 9ffJ \6 bnfil^nH oJ ;ta98 sniBmet ligao'I oiiaE 

abiovf W9i fi luoflJiw gfiqmfiq sdt sv^sl Tuy^/.a i I 
-91 9f{j iioqij hii& t89iuj>69l ifioi^olos^ litidl aoqo 
lo 9Dnfi-iB3qqB bAi ni h^ial'iA:^^ i^sn^aoo slduii-ifirn 
msiliuoa adit no bnfi n-rsdiion adJ no y'^^^^oo adi 
-fimiol ad;^ 9bia d;^iofl sdt nO .jBifilSL adt lo asioda 
doidw lo tSJiflxng bim— ^^BTen^igtijlg-^filo lo si floit 
91B gai^A 8on9jj3 9vodB i9vri 9dt m abnijlgi adt 
,8fifiBm'i9H gfiJ ^bIoS y^*^^^^*^^^^^^ J398oqmoo obIb 
b9h'iBup 81 aJioBig ad;^ 9'i9d7/^ ^jsioi^O ni;hj8M bai* 
abig ni9diuo8 9d:^ nO .^iia adi lo ;faain9VBq 9d;t lol 
8b9*ibflud lol boB (;f8ol Yl9'ii;tn9 ai iJooi \o 9dj3'ii yiava 
ad o:^ 81 9lddaq ;fa9nBm8 sdt fl9V9 ion bflfilni gaiini "io 

. .dtiw-tam 
adj ,ti dtiw bataiBupoi 9W ea iii^ "A 

iBaid3B9-f Bsqffijsq arii balffia Isvai iafiv ifidJ 



a fir 153 

-OB edt lo aobpv'"'0"'''^^ ^ bnoYsd Bteb wsri on 
^ . , ^. . CHAPTER X. ; . . ^ , ^ 

iD^llb Iioiiqi/TIMCUOGY OF THE PAMPASUrlw .ISYI'l ;tf.9'I^ 

lih'ioO 9flt mo'i't 

Geological Featui*es of the Southern compared with those of the 
Northern Shore of the Plata. The Pampa Formation, probably 
derived from the Alluvial Process now going on. as exhibited iifi 
the Beds of the Plata itself and other Rivers. Fossil remains 
of land Animals found in it, above Marine Shells. Such 
Shells where met with, and of what Species. Mr. Bland's 
Theory of the Upheaval of the Pampas from the Sea, founded 
on the Deposits of Salt in them :^The presence of such Salt 
"''^ may be otherwise accounted for. Account of the Discovery of 
the Gigantic Fossil remains sent to England by the Author. 

I CANNOT leave the pampas without a few words 
upon their geological features, and upon the re- 
markable contrast exhibited in the appearance of 
the country on the northern and on the southern 
shores of the Plata. On the north side the forma- 
tion is of clay-slate, gneiss, and granite, of which 
the islands in the river above Buenos Ayres are 
also composed, particularly Sola, Las Hermanas, 
and Martin Garcia, Avhere the granite is quarried 
for the pavement of the city. On the southern side 
every trace of rock is entirely lost, and for hundreds 
of miles inland not even the smallest pebble is to be 
met with. 

As far as we are yet acquainted with it, the 
whole of that vast level called the pampas, reaching 

M 2 



164 ?AMPA FORMATIOIS. 

ffei§^^^e^tgft#4ferteliS^(>n§ if ffie ^nies to the 
sil^i'eyMoF^ltte Plata, appears to be one immense bed 
of alluvium tranquilly deposited during the imper- 
ceptible lapse of ages ; the delta perhaps, not of one," 
Biit of numerous rivers, originating in a once mor6 
general diffusian of the waters from the Andes 
before^ CHei^^ courses wer€ defined by their present 
channels. Some such process of formation appears 
still to be going on in many parts of the pampas, 
v^here muddy streams and streamlets, the collection^ 
from the mountains in tlie south and of the rainy 
seasons, too sluggish to force a way through the 
levd countrj^ intf^d^t^-fc plains, and gradually 
deposit the alluvial seditnent, together with a pro- 
digious quantity of decomposed vegetable matter, in 
the swamps and morasses, until accunmlations of 
fresh soil take place in sufficient quantity to throw 
off the waters again in some other direction. The 
bed of the Plata, itself the reservoir of a hundred 
rivers, is, from all I could learn, gradually silting 
lUp, and, vvide as it is at the present day, along its 
^fehores, and particularly above Buenos Ayres, may 
il)e distinctly traced the evidences of the waters 
having once occupied a bed of infinitely greater 
extent. Every observation -*5tiiM# 't&f^#e inference 
that this now mighty estuary' mayV centuries hence, 
J, be reduced to similar bounds and rules to those 
;< which govern the outlets of the Amazons, the 
^Mississippi, the Nile, and the Ganges. Nor will 
this require, perhaps, ^o long a period as might at 



THE f I^iVM J^I^TI^lGf UP. 165 

city and Mo^|gjf|^M^|^§ff jQot, e^^ceed twenty feot*, 
The prodigious quantity of mud and detritus brought^ 
down by it is well known,-T-the wb^le river, wide 
as it is, is at times discoloured l^-jifioo Now, if but^ 
enough of this sediment is deposited < 3 to cause tlie,^ 

,&,* Withre^littmtMpEi§t, it is, I feW, U^6lei^ Wl!®k£fdi- IKiyMeily? 
positive data as to the -State of the river previously; to th0 last cent ui:y: 
— the only allusion to it which I can find is in the ' Argentina,' an 
historical poem by Barco Centenera, who went out in 1572 with the 
Adelantado Zarate, and who, speaking of its depth between Buenos 
Ayres and San Gabriel, off Golonia, on the opposite shore, says :~ ; 

-Oiq B flti^P^chonueveleguasomastiene q^-^ iigoqsb 

„ ' El rio por aq ui, y muy hondable. < . . r 

( M?^j^ j^^ ^^^^ hasta aqui segura viene ^ o 

'io 8noi;tBiyifl^fii®^niiiManchomar es navigdBle^qmawa sdt 

WO'Ilft Ot V;fiJTteri-iVei% here nine leagues or ifidl^ [io8 d89*ll 

9dT '\mb^4^^''^^y^^^P^ *^^^^ '^^'*^ ^"^ ^^^m^i^j 9dl lo 

r f t So far the navigation's free, t^r [4 r^ r a 

As iho' iivere on the open sea. "' 

^ai^rlia ^ilfiubs-ig ,n-i£9l AtfekptffMjcafiti^itJvn 

And althp^^fe, ^Bapli<^ ^#'s MtMri# igiot^ttt^Qi^fhSsJCpfr 
a geological f^act, I |iay^^the less he(sita,tlon in quoting his coupltst, 
as it is, to a, certain extent, corroborated by the circumstance that, 
arhongst all the dangers and disasters recorded with so much mi- 
'MJu'teness by the historians of the first discoveries of those parts, 
there is no instance, that I am aware of^(|t^en|ipa^f^by tl|fpa(,3Qf .a 
shipwreck in the river below San Gabriel, the port to which all 
vessels at that time directed their course after entering it:— from 
this I think aiiy^citne who knows the dangers of the navigation of that 
\part of the river now, will be disposed to infer that it really must 
have been in former times as Centenera describes it, much more 
free and safe than it is at the present day :— it is probable that the 
brtiz bank especially has very much increased. 



166 ^ iW^glL ^fiMAlNS I*ROM 

small anntial m(^i>e>^ie£^^itdil3^9feiallsannmdh? fc 
bed of the river, it will not require 500 years to 
form a delta, which, in the language of the country, 
will he nothing more or less than an extension of 
Ibe existing pampas. > ' 

"Such, I conceive, may hwe been the origin of 
the far spread formation of the present pampas or 
|>lains, throughout which are to be found the fossil 
remains of gigantic aninials of long lost species, 
such as the megatherium and mastodon, and other 
monsters yet unnamed, which in former ages may 
have grazM upon the abundant pastures produced 
in the rich loamy lands saved from the waters ; 
whilst beneath, in strata of marine shells, are no 
kss incontestable evidences of the ancient bed of the 
^cean. 

It cannot be expected that, in a country so uni- 
formly level as the pampas, sections of sufficient 
d^pth will frequently ocem' to exhibit the under- 
lying strata. They must be looked for at the out- 
lying extremities of the formation, where the upper 
bed thins out,— to use a geological term. Now 
there is nothing that I know of to interrupt the 
uniformity of the stratum between the southern 
shore of the Plata on the one side, and the eastern 
base of the Andes on the other, and at both these 
extreme^ marine remains are strikingly exhibited. 

General Cruz, in his journey from Antuco to 
Buenos Ayres (noticed in chapter viii.), in passing 
through the valleys in the lower ranges of the 



THE ANDES TO THE PARANA. 167 

Cordillem^ dmraelkie]|iitefoj^e org^^ebingithe^ .paMpa^ 
was exceediirgly Mp*(|kimtk tlieabu^^ of marl 

rine rem ai-iits'i thereabouts. JI<b Jay^^ in his diary^ 
^'In all the hillsLaiid-^lleys under the Cordillera^ 
as far as the river Chadileubu, a great quantity 0f 
marine remains arp met with, some of them con- 
stituting a sort of iitne^tone. Not only may theses 
remaiijs^lb^il)feserved upop the surface, but also at 
great depths below it, in the sections formed b}| 
the torrents as they descend from the mountainsr* 
there can, therefore, be no doubt that the water<s 
of the sea once occupied the place of the land iij 
those parlsf}' raoil hsYm gbnaf y'^^oI doh qiU m 
DO Proceeding eastward, by the ba^^ qIj^^^^oMMW 
ranges of SaniMili^uiM atid Gordovaj ^Ji^tejb^ndAi 
pampas to the north, we have the testimony? of 
water-worn^ rocks *^and beds of shells liil that direc- 
tion, from Sehmitmeyer, Helms, and other tral- 
vellers, at Poiiezuela and on the banks of the 
Tercero; and bej'ond the Sierra de Cordova^ on th^ 
great river Parana, near Santa Fe, Mr. Barwiii 
found in the cliff which skirts the river a straturn of 
marine shells distinctly exposed a little above the 
level of the water, and with the alluvial bed over 
it, forty oiP fifty feet thick, containing bones of ex- 
tinct mammaliluiB ^i9iiio s^fit no aabnA erii lo 3'<iad 
Here, then; I thiiik^ ^e ^niay stme^ alh but ooib 
tinuously, the northern and western shores of a 
gulf, which nmst have been nearly as large as that 
of Mexico, and not very unlike it, perhaps, iipge-f 



lierflljJtairtBife.aofQPra^eiimgiiisiailii (fdJaif 3 ^HtL' Fe, 
^Qdiigiifehfe dkai®s wJ&ctlM MMst{ il^tta|)olii& thes^ 
pampas on the east, we find, at dist4iicfe^ varying 
fr0im3iione8toi:feiiIsleagJieig^^mlan(i from the river, and 
from J3fi%Itooofiir^iiuadeed. and fifty miles from th^ 
sea, largeltbais^sMi naaiaa^^ shMls, wMch the people 
0:f those partt ?qakii]fyite llm)ilibil9oftiiifcB®s0 deposits^ 
I have my^Mf(B^peeimens of Volida €k)locyMhml 
J^oluta AflgUlata, Buccinum Glohz^mkiy IBuedinuM 
Nov\. Bpe.y Oliva Patula ; Ci/th^r(jBa Flexuosa?' 
Macty^l Venus Fleoouosa, Ostrea, Sec. In some 
plteefe^these shells are so compact as to form a sort 
of limestone, easily M^orked wheil^ to^addgtomty anil 
hardening afterwards on exposuMit^^llibrf^rr, The 
etoi^eh of Magdalen a upon the <ioast>iiballt of this 
ii^at^rial. They are generally in good 'pif esfei'vation, and 
some of the species appear almost identical with thos^ 
found upon the coasts of^Sraadl ;e^aQp8ei^' on the con^ 
traif# found withYtli^ aia©(iio*f4di«^wa;.'' itThere is 
0fiepfabi^ geii^wU^iiyfiii^lfpjiiaMii^dd Mth others; 
i|liich i« particularly^ interesting on this question, as 
strikingly proving the ^raduaL^ogrowtfe of the 
pampas ; it is the small Mi/hr^^'dme^jydMmo'm^/a by 
^gw^j^iAuiediy Ipand in es^iaid^iafe fclj unction 
aiili^e fiedh aiid3saifew£|:teriiand dH^ fexif^i^itype of 
tWiJ^lt a^iflbir to be met with aitstfeferimoiifch of the 
Siat&j but the bed from which niylbssii specimens 
were taken is at the Calera de Arriola, to the north 
of Buenos Ayres, nearly 1 50 miles from its present 
habitat; -and there (I think manifestly proved by 



SAtlNE DEPOSITS^ 169 

these little shells) itosfeha^eifeeem^hce „fellmi^ 
^ mightf? estiiiMyi w^ht^ miMw -miMa ftfei^liSQ^ 
laailes helti^iil^gib te ^bah 3w J'da3 edi no g^sqfojsq 
I must n6% omit fe itate thatJalPthdse imaflfinii 
deposits are found in situations more or less abovei 
the present level of the ocean ; this, in the neigh-*? 
bourhood, of ( the Gordilteiial idiich is so continnallj?:^ 
liable to volcanic dislarfeg^ces, may be accowiited 
for ; but it N leads to other speculations in the fla| 
alluvial plains towards the Plata, where the phei 
nomenon of 03x1 eai'th quake is utterly unknown, and 
where the^' appEErelo^y perfect horizontality of th^ 
strata wouldjseem to negative the idea of any violeil 
action by which dt^mighkiais^ Ifeen upheaveiinsbiiiii 
fe Mr. Bland, one of the North American ComniM^ 
^ioners sent to Buenos Ayres in 1818, reasoning upoft 
the quantity of saline matter found in the pampag^ 
hazards, as he says, the conjecture that the pampi 
formatitm " may have ben g®i%iiifte(l;»pjst ^^m& 
the level of the ocean, ^^^teflllwilhsg taftMb<^9flO 
M^broken and flat as not yet to have been sufficiently 
purified of its salt and acrid matter, either by filtra« 
tion or washing :" and undoubtedly such salin^ 
matter doefe efxist very extensively pyei this forma-^ 
tion. Many jof iHjb lonHijiB^ waters, as their names 
denote, Mie Fr^ndijitedsbilaid^iAjby^^il jvan^dakg^ #Mtb 
feave no outlet be com^ saturated with it, and depo^ft 
it in regular beds, where in the dry season it may be 
collected in any quantity. But it does not neces- 
sarily follow that it has been left there by^the em^Md 



If© iMWNE DEPOSIllSXH 

>f^f(^p%^r|3i||f^lt abounds in tlie Andes, and that 
extensive beds ;X)f it occury paitieularly in: those parts 
of them from whieh ;we ma^ eonjectuije that the 
greater part of the waters of the pam-pas are derived; 
^nd if for a moment we can suppose the pampas 
themselves to have originated in sedimentary de- 
posits from those mountain chains, we must L think 
e<j[ually admit that the alluvial soil washed down 
can hardly fail to be impregnated with so soluble a 
substance as the salt which abounds in them. In a 
country of more varied surface we might expect the 
briny particles to be carried ofiP by the streams and 
Ipst in the sea ; ibut inr the dead levels rf the pampas 
tlie^ gttf^ar ipaiifcj'rfstbe ^streams ihemselve;^ are lost 
long ere they r*eacH the 6cean. The waters deposit 
their sediment over the surface, and the salt is left 
to amalgamate with the mire of the marshes, until 
perhaps again the rains collect it, and either partially 
carry it off iii brackish streams, or deposit it in the 
basins of the inland lakes, in which it is so abun-i 
dantly found. That it is a superficial deposit I think 
is proved by the fact that (as^ elsewhere noticed) in 
the iminediate vicinity of some of the saline lakes 
aiidcj riyers in the pampa^ and where the surface of 
all tho surrounding eounti'y+appeftrs (to be incrusted 
^itb salti the ^people dig wells, and find perfectly^ 
fi*esh and potable waterj as I understand, at a deptB 
of from twenty to fifty feet. The same may be said 
to occur throughout the city of Buenos Ayres, where 
all the wells which^ do not penetrate the tosca pro- 



EXTINCT MAMMAtrA. ft 1 

duce water da^/e M less brackish, whilst those which^ 
go below it" are sweet. Some of the best water I* 
ever tasted was fi'om a well sunk in the sandy* 
stratum below the clay at Mr. Brittain's quinta out^ 
side the city. Further, I imagine that the discovery 
of the remains of land animals so generally through-^' 
out this formation is in itself conclusive of its depo4 
sition subsequently to the existence of the ocean in' 
those parts, the ancient bed of which it must very 
considerably overlie. ■ 

Ta speak -jof the megatherium alone, its remains 
have been found in all parts of the pampas, from the 
river Carcarana, in the province of Santa Fe, to 
the south of the Salado, a distance of nearly 300 
miles in a direct line, and in all the intermediate 
country. Such remains are much more common 
than is supposed, and I am satisfied might frequently 
be met with if searched for during the dry sea^^fll 
or after long droughts, either in the banks of thf# 
rivers, or in the beds of some of the numerous lakes 
which are then dried up. All the remains I sent 
home were so discovered, and so were those sent to 
Madrid by the Marquis of Loreto, which were found 
in the bed fi of the river Luxan, a short distance t(^ 
the north of the city of Buenos Ayres. The great 
skeleton I obtained was discovered in the rivei* 
Salado, to the south of Buenos Ayres, after ai 
drought of unusually long continuance, by a peon 
in the service of the Sosa family^ who, attempt- 
ing to cross the river at an unfrequented spot. 



1 72 . MIPISCOVERY OF^ ' 

wa^9^krfBekiib^otW}aj^6ai£aa8fcfe loT xfoifea^e:! niadSBlaf 
sometbing stetMdingi aisoke tteBsartagtefeiheiwIateiPJ 
and whicli^^ stippaMti^iat^Miss(fiTt®olbeiisbii^ of 

the trunknbf kitiiee^ lieE»«fcteasdaiBed to get out if 
p<)ssible : m this jfe©^^^ iaBsi8tedil)y some of his- 
brothei* |)@)i)te,nwb0i:!jdiro\\diig^8their tlassqea over ity 
sxicceededfikr, dra^iag- it aut^ltotiiaiately without 
ifljtBr^i(for nfeejiroyedi td)be i?Meaiil^^^ pelvis of 

th)en(niegatlieiii4iai/Jwit%Jsit awcrr^i e^6i fefought upi 
several of the other bones, and amor^ste^hsm some^ 
efi the vertebrae. To the peons thev'^kisluekily 
appeared to be useless : turn it whidi way they^ 
wciuldp theys^^iic^gbeeti tlia^ itiidM iioiom^ite half so* 
e#i!ofeEta4die a ^eatiasTeMeigAYbuMxjck's or a horse's 
teg|;obiBt/^<te2Vaf^b|fe'adfitiiiots"so easily escape, and^ 
in a place where not a stOiie is to be seen, were 
efegeidy 'seiyett up©ti^iasv excellent ^substitutes to boil 
tJaeh- camp-kettles up'Qfljao(|^j5^ 'i&liialler ones being 
Hest7suitedBt®iith€iJprii-|)diafa;^-4^<6h03 first to dig-' 
ap|)dear,JWpchQtel;piacfcb3l^9fc3^^ of all 

tiie cerviosilloyerlelasi^fa^'iw^dlaaSTDf many of thW 
^nailer bonesb®fi)j^M feeti^0(i^^her parts. After a 
tibmeit was saggi^edoifat ethe pelvis and some of 
thSdafUgestf^bcbiJiSs shocffl bec^sent as cliriliities to the 
©AseiferrgcfntlifeifigtanMaiaoiiig^idi mh^iW&m &MMi 
Ek)nQHfflaii©iBQkgiiti3vvhcs^j^(9is©iiiP^i®lnfe Ay 
l2&'itfisfe^ctom^8fi{|ife(|vadJg©b4iJegC!^ my 

greak jandfet^^to ^obtalrrf ^posieBsioti) ^bf "^ tifem, after 
exhibiting them to his friends, to place them at my 
disposal, and to allow ni^ • ta send people to hi s 



THE MEGTiTHERItJM. 173 

e standi te^^Mrch Tor tfesfeofijiBckollof dhe^sb^lekmfr 

1?3^iltteififexkrtk^iiiBaa^j ©fefe parifeii!^aqf?iitlJ'were 
saved ;qa0dicfeul(ficwl tteiJdeBtrffl&ii| pf i sotoeilyy Ihe 
country-f»^oplB,B8siiiesdBifbe?d[| ^aniJoI dthe^ssi Aw:hieH| 
having henmt^^Ybs^fBkm. ^tmifiwA infetaiice; iialftar^i 
mained ex|»G8ed ifoiils^ai!immciitbsi\to,afete 
had become so biiftle^sin donseq^eircb ascnfefcloobeaiF 
Kenioval^ ^teftssksktjdnBfMo^dolhkveo ilqe^ii Ktbl^mJily 
perfects ! J 0^ ib-fa i^iw^ j^ier^ifortuBmte that amongst 
the parts 'preserved tvere some of those whibkr^are 
wanting in the skeleton at Madrid, especiallyLtho 
hones of the tail, which singularly corroborate )4l|@ 
anticipations iiofoiCMieili ^vMo^e , de^liptioiil of ifebis 
remarkable mola^I^ijdvjasjsdte^ a ^fe|MJ^elio?ta)^ 

tion of that Sp<?iniei^9j[tM:bori^J#ia^^«A'v^ 
till mine reached Europe. - }n 

M. Cuvier was not I believe aware of the grounds 
which now exist for supposing that the animal waM 
covered with a coa|K^|iisib<^kqthMJarp|adMfc^avhiGll 
has led other comparative anatomi^teiftOfWlf^ittodifc 
femily. Therefwerelnoj r@iiiaij@:sjof?smcHiia?isheM m^ 
pertaining to the gpedimen at MadHd, neither JvVere 
any found with the bones which I have spoken of at 
discovered in the Salado. PortionSj however, of as 
shelly covering in a fossili «tat^is:^hich?infesti4iav0 
belonged to some gigaMJdTiatimal, had been at 
various times dug up in the pam|)as, which had ex4 
cited the attention and speculations of the curious^ 
Even father Faikner in his account of the country 
speaks of them irr-rhesay^^i that he himself found the 



174 SHELLY COVERING FOUND 

shall pfun animal jcomposed of little hexagonal bones, 
each bone an iach in diameter at least, and the whole 
shell nearly three yards over: it seemed to him to 
be in all respects, except it^^^J^e, the upper part of 
tlie shell of an armadillo. 

The researches I set on foot after finding the ske^ 
leton in the Salado led to fresh discoveries, which, if 
they do not identify these shells with the megatherium, 
miist lead us to conclude that these regions were once 
ipbabited by other gigantic animals no less extraor- 
dinary. When the country-people saw the eage^-, 
ness with which the big bones from the Salado were 
sought for, they were not backward in speaking of 
other places where similar remains had been ii^i^t 
withj and were still, as they beiieyed, to , be found. 
Upon this information I once more despatched mj^^ 
^ent to the south of the Salado, and the governor, 
Bon Manuel Rosas, taking an interest in the matter, 
was good, enough to furnish him wi^h a letter of 
reppii^mendation to the local authprities, desiring 
them to give him not only |)rotection, but every 
assistance he might need to ensure his success. In 
little less than three weeks we were repaid by 
the discovery of two more enormous skeletons oa^ 
the estancias of^^g^j^vernor him^^ ^§d,;\(g^ 
lanueva; and Las Ayerias, and in both instances witl|^ 
the novelty of their being encased in a thick coating 
or shell resembling that of the armadillo. The first, 
found at Villanueva, though still of gigantic pro- 
portions, appears to have been very much smaller 



WITH GIGANTIC BONESv ' 1 75 

than that Wliicli had been taken out of the Salado : 
it was discovered in the bed of a small rivulet, and 
upon exposure to the air nearly all crumbled to 
dust. The oiily portions it was possible to preserve' 
being part of a scapula, a small portion of the jaw 
with one Small but perfect tooth remaining in it, 
d%d% fragment of a hind leg, with some of the feet 
bones. The shell lay, as Mr. Oakley, my agent, 
described it, a little below the principal mass of the' 
bones, looking like the section of a huge cask ; the^ 
form of it when first discovered appeared natural 
and perfect/but it would not bear to be lifted out 
of its bed, and broke into small pieces and crumbled 
away immediately.^ ^^^"^ iMmiia 8it,iiw aosiilq loiiJp 

From the account give A by Mr. Oiffilfey, and tliW' 
apparent resemblance of the remains of this specimen 
to those previously discovered, although of a much 
smaller size, I was induced to believe that they be-' 
longe^^Q'*^a^^younger animal of the same speciesf 
other persoiis, however, who have since had an op- 
portunity of comparing them with recent specimens^ 
of the dasypus family, have suggested that it is more" 
probable that they belonged to a gigantic armadilldj 
Such is tlie belief entertained, I am told, at Parish 
where casts of the bones in questibn have been sent.^ 
The other skeleton, found at Las Averias, was de- 
scribed to be as large as that of the megatheriuni/ 
It lay in a bed of hard clay, on the side of the lake 
of Las Averias, partly exposed to view by the action 
of the water against it in stormy weather. Here a 



176 COMPARATIVE SIZE 

large portion of the shell appeared in a perfect state, 
and the country people, who took Mr. Oakley to the 
spot, assured him that, when first discovered, it was 
at least twelve feet in length, and from four to six 
in depth. It was very hard, but could not be got 
out whole. Mr. Oakley, however, brought away 
some considerable portions of it, which, in this 
instance, became harder the longer they were ex- 
posed to the external air. Not so the bones within, 
which, like those at Villanueva, almost immediately 
mouldered away on being taken out of the earth. A 
very imperfect fragment of the pelvis only reached 
Buenos Ay res. 

On my return to England I exhibited these re- 
mains at the Geological Society, and afterwards 
made them over to the Royal College of Surgeons, 
whose collection of comparative anatomy is by far 
the finest in this country. Mr. Clift, the curator of 
that collection, undertook to describe them, and his 
paper upon them will be found in the " Transactions 
of the Geological Society for 1835.'* Casts of 
them, which were made at my desire, were also 
deposited in other museums, abroad as well as at 
home. Sir Francis Chantrey was kind enough to 
superintend the making of them, and to a simple 
suggestion of his, a solution of linseed- oil and 
litharge,* with which they were very thoroughly sa- 
turated, may be ascribed their restoration to a state 

* In the proportion of an ounce of litharge to a quart of oil. 



OF MEGATHERIUM. 177 

hardly to be distinguished from that of the most 
recent bone. 

Dr. Buckland, the learned professor of geology 
at Oxford, has since made the megatherium the 
subject of a chapter in his " Bridge water Treatise/' 
wherein he has fully described the remarkable 
peculiarities of its structure, in which, as he ob- 
serves, it exceeds its nearest living congeners in a 
greater degree than any other known fossil animal. 
With the head and shoulders of a sloth, it combined, 
in its legs and feet, an admixture of the characters 
of the ant-eater, the armadillo, and the chlamypho- 
rus : the latter it probably still further resembled 
in being cased with a bony coat of armour. Mea- 
suring the bones only, its haunches were more 
than five feet wide ;* its thigh bone was twice the 
thickness of that of the largest elephant ; the fore 
foot was a yard in length, and terminated by a 
gigantic claw ; the tail, the width of the upper part 
of which was at least two feet, and which was pro- 
bably clad in armour, must have been infinitely 
larger than that of any other known beast, amongst 
extinct or living mammalia. The whole body, ac- 

* The following comparative measurements of the bones of the 
megatherium and of an elephant eleven feet high, are furnished by- 
Mr. Clift:— 



The expansion of the ossa ilia . 
Breadth of the largest caudal vertebra 
Circumference of middle of femur 
Length of the os calcis . 



ELEPHANT. 


MEGATHERIUM, 


Ft. 


In. 


Ft. 


lu. 


. 3 


8 


5 


1 


)ra 


7 


1 


9 


. 1 





2 


2 


. 


Ih 


1 


5 



178 SKELETON OF THE MEGATHERIUM. 

cording to the learned professor's calculation, was 
about eight feet in height, and twelve in length.* 
The annexed plate, carefully drawn from the original 
bones, under Mr. Clift's superintendence, will serve 
not only to give a general idea of the strange struc- 
ture of this extraordinary monster, but to show the 
parts which are still wanting to make up the speci- 
men. I will only add that, if any of those parts 
should fall into the hands of a casual collector, he 
will render a service to science by transmitting them 
to the curator of the College of Surgeons in London. 

* Mr. Clift quotes a MS. memorandum in his possession, stating 
the measurement of the skeleton at Madrid to he, from the front of 
the nasal hones to the setting on of the tail, thirteen feet seven inches, 
and he is of opinion that, of the two, the specimen I brought home 
was the older and somewhat larger individual. 



178 h 
NOTE ON THE GLYPTODON. 



Whilst the last pages of this Volume were in the 
press, I received accounts from South America fully 
bearing out my own opinions, not only as to the 
abundance of fossil remains in the pampas, but that 
other monsters no less extraordinary than the mega- 
therium once inhabited them. 

In the last year gigantic bones have been met with 
not far from Monte Video ; whilst in the pampas of 
Buenos Ayres two more skeletons of the megathe- 
rium have been found; one of them near Luxan 
(where that at Madrid was dug up), on the property 
of Seoor Muniz, a medical gentleman, who was en- 
gaged in exhuming it with great care, and every pro- 
spect of completing the skeleton. 

A still more interesting discovery is that of the 
apparently complete remains of another monstrous 
fossil animal, entirely new to us, of which I annex a 
sketch reduced by Mr. Clift, from an original draw- 
ing made of it in *27w, which has been sent to me 
by Mr. Griffiths, H. M. Consul at Buenos Ayres. 
I trust it will not be long ere these remarkable 
remains are in this country, where I doubt not they 
will afford a rich treat to the scientific inquirer. 
In the mean time, the drawing in question^ accom- 
panied by one of the teeth, has been sufficient to 
enable Mr. Owen to draw up the following notice, 
which I am happy to be able at once to publish, as a 
foretaste of what is to come. 

The monster it refers to was found in the bank 
of a rivulet near the Rio Matanza, in the Partido of 



178 C THE GLYPTODON. 

Canuelas, about twenty miles to the south of the city 
of Buenos Ayres, in a low marshy place, about five 
feet below the surface. 

It appears by the report sent home with the ori- 
ginal drawing, that the entire length of the beast, 
from the snout to the end of the tail, measures eight 
and a half English feet; the width of the body three 
feet four inches ; and its height, from the point A to 
B, three feet six inches. The vertebral column, from 
the neck to the sacrum, is altogether; the ilia unit- 
ing with the vertebral column and sacrum in one 
single and immoveable piece. 

It will be at once manifest that the sketch con- 
veys the idea of a gigantic quadruped of the mega- 
therium or armadillo family, having the internal 
skeleton and the external dermal bony case in their 
natural relative positions. 

The head is covered with a coronal plate of a 
form which closely corresponds with that which 
defends the corresponding part in existing armadillos : 
a long descending process is indicated as being con- 
tinued from the zygoma, with a slight curve for- 
wards ; this structure is interesting, as showing that 
the part in which the megatherium most strikingly 
resembles the sloth is participated by another ex- 
tinct species which indubitably possesses the cha- 
racteristic armour of the armadillo tribe. The 
lower jaw, in the peculiar descending curve of the 
ramus below and before the angle, also closely re« 
sembles that of the megatherium. The armour of the 
trunk would seem to be more capacious, and to have 
extended lower down, than in existing armadillos : its 



THE GLYPTODON. 178 d 

structure is described to consist of polygonal plates, 
similar to the shelly coverings of all that family; 
which the animal appears also to have resembled in 
the number of its teeth. 

Beneath the caudal plate six hsemapophyses or 
chevron -bones are delineated, apparently of dispro- 
portionate magnitude ; but the indication is inter- 
esting, as exhibiting another well-marked feature of 
the megatherian organization. 

The feet have been conjecturally restored and 
added to the original sketch, in order to render it 
more intelligible. 

The most important evidence as yet in our pos- 
session of this interesting fossil is the portion of the 
tooth, which of itself would have been sufficient to 
establish a new genus of megatheroid quadrupeds, so 
far as genera depend upon dental characters. The 
length of the broken tooth is two inches three lines, 
and there is no indication of a diminution of any of 
its diameters from the grinding surface, which is en- 
tire, to the fractured extremity: it may be safely 
concluded, therefore, that the entire tooth is fangless^ 
and was continued of equal size from end to end : the 
total length, judging from the proportions of the tooth 
of the megatherium, being probably about four inches. 

The antero- posterior diameter of the tooth is one 
inch, the transverse diameter from six to seven lines ; 
whence it will be seen that it is much more com- 
pressed than the teeth of the megatherium, from 
which also, as well as from the megalonyx, it farther 
differs in being traversed longitudinally on both the 
outer and inner sides, by two broad and deep chan- 



178 6 THE GLYPTODON. 

nels, extending one-third of the transverse diameter 
into the substance of the tooth from opposite points 
so as to divide the grinding surface into three por- 
tions, joined together by the contracted isthmus in- 
tervening between the opposite grooves. These 
grooves or flutings were doubtless continued through- 
out the whole length of the tooth. The tooth is 
slightly curved, with a smooth and polished exterior ; 
its texture resembles that of the tooth of the arma- 
dillo, consisting of a central body of ivory with an 
external coating of csementum, but the latter is rela- 
tively thicker than in the armadillos. The ivory, 
from its superior density, projects above the grind- 
ing surface in the form represented in the drawing 
(fig. 3) . The form and structure of the tooth indi- 
cates its adaptation to masticate vegetable substances 
of the softer kind ; and the animal must have been 
provided with claws suitable to the digging up of 
esculent roots, reeds^ &c. The tooth is more com- 
plicated in its external form than those of any recent 
or extinct edentate species hitherto discovered, and 
seems to indicate a transition from the bruta, or 
edentata, to the toxodon discovered by Mr. Darwin 
in the same part of the world. 

From the regularly fluted or sculptured form of 
the tooth, I would propose to name the genus ty- 
pified by this animal, '' glyptodon' (yXu(pa), sculpo ; 
o^ovg, dens). 

Description of the Plate. 
Fig. 1. Reduced copy of the original sketch (with the feet added 
conjecturally). 

Fig. 2.- Side view of a molar tooth, natural size. 
Fig. 3. Grinding surface of the same. 




I— I s 
W I 

H § 



179 



CHAPTER XI. 

OF THE RIVERS PARAGUAY, PARANA, AND URUGUAY. 

Importance of the rivers of the United Provinces. The Paraguay 
and its tributaries. The Pilcomayo. TheVermejo. Soria's ex- 
pedition down it from Oran, proving it navigable thence to 
Assumption. Periodical inundations of the Parana, similar to 
those of the Nile. The Uruguay and its affluents. Surveys by 
the Commissioners appointed to determine the Boundaries laid 
down by the Treaty between Spain and Portugal of 1777. 
Original Maps obtained. 

Before proceeding to give any account of the 
Upper Provinces, a brief description will perhaps 
here not be out of place of the great rivers which 
form so remarkable a feature in the physical geo- 
graphy of this part of the South American con- 
tinent, and from the navigation of which by steam- 
vessels hereafter such important political conse- 
quences may be anticipated. 

Of these, the Paraguay is the first. This river, 
which from Corrientes takes the name of Parana, 
has its sources between south lat. 13° and 14°, in 
those ranges which, though of very trifling elevation 
themselves, appear to connect the lofty mountains 
of Peru and Brazil, and to constitute the water- shed 
of some of the principal rivers of South America. 
From their northern declivities descend some of the 
most important of the eastern affluents of the Madera, 
the Tapajos, and other great streams which empty 

N 2 



180 THE PARAGUAY RIVER 

themselves into the Maranon, or Amazons ; whilst, 
on the other hand, all those which pour down to- 
wards the southt find their way into the bed of the 
wonderful river I am describing. 

Many navigable streams join it from the eastward, 
as it passes through the rich Brazilian territories of 
Matto Grosso and Cuyaba. Its tributaries from the 
opposite side are, though perhaps more important, 
less numerous, tlie surface of the country being more 
level ; of these the Jauru is the first of any conse- 
quence, the sources of which are close to those of the 
Guapore, which runs in the opposite direction into 
the Madera and Amazons. The short portage which 
intervenes between the heads of these rivers is all that 
breaks a continuous water-course from the mouths of 
the Amazons to that of the Plata, as will be seen 
on reference to the map. A little below the Jauru 
commences a wide region of swamps called the 
lake or lakes of Xarayes ; which, during the pe- 
riodical inundations of the rivers that descend from 
the mountains to the north of Cuyaba^ is flooded for 
a vast extent, the waters forming one great inland 
sea, to the depth of ten or twelve feet, extend- 
ing between 200 and 300 miles east and west, and 
upwards of 100 from north to south. As the rainy 
season passes away, this mass of waters is finally 
carried off by the Paraguay, which even here, 1200 
miles in a direct line from the sea, is navigable for 
vessels of 40 or 50 tons. The mouth of the Jauru 
is in 16° 25' long. 320° 10' east of Ferro :— here a 



AND ITS AFFLUENTS. 181 

marble pyramid is erected to mark tlie boundary 
determined upon between the Spaniards and Portu- 
guese by the treaty of 1750. 

Quiroga, who accompanied FJores, the Spanish 
commissioner, to determine this point, in descending 
the Paraguay fixed the latitude of most of the nu- 
merous rivers which fall into it before its junction 
with the Parana * On the eastern side they afford 
the means of communication with the gold and 
diamond districts of Brazil, and lower down with 
those districts of Paraguay proper which abound in 
the finest timber, and produce the yerba mate, the 
article perhaps most in demand of all the rich pro- 
ductions of that favoured country. 

From the west its most important affluents are the 
Pilcomayo and the Vermejo, which fall into it below 
Assumption : — both flow through a prodigious extent 
of country, having their sources in the rich districts 
of Upper Peru. The first passes not far from Potosi, 
and, after a thousand windings through the chaco, 
or desert, falls into the Paraguay by tw^o branches, 
the one called the Araquay, in lat. 25° 2V 29^ 
according to an observation taken by Azara ; the 
other, about nine leagues below it. M. de Angelis 
has I think clearly show^n that the river to the 
north of Assumption, which Azara has laid down as 
the most northern branch of the Pilcomayo, is the 
Fogones of Quiroga. 

* His positions will be found in the tables of fixed points given in 
the Appendix. 



182 THE RIVER PILCOMAYO 

In 1741 Father Castanares attempted an explora- 
tion of the Pilcomayo, in the expectation that it would 
facilitate a communication with the Jesuit missions 
in the province of Chiquitos ; hut after many hard- 
ships and difficulties, at the end of eighty-three days, 
he was obliged to give it up, from the river becom- 
ing too shallow for his canoes to pass on. In 1785 
Azara attempted to ascend it by the Araquay, in 
a small vessel ; but after proceeding about twenty 
leagues, was obliged to return, for the same reason, 
— want of water ; althougb it was at the season of the 
floods, and the river was more than ordinarily full. 

The Vermejo, on the contrary, which falls into the 
Paraguay still further down, has been more than 
once proved to afford a navigable communication 
with the province of Salta : First by Cornejo, in 
1790 ; who, starting from the confluence of the 
rivers Centa and Tarija, reached the Paraguay in 
fifty- five days ; the distance by the river being, 
according to his computation, no less than 407J 
leagues. And more recently, in 1826, by Don 
Pablo Soria, the agent of some spirited individuals 
in Buenos Ayres, who about that time formed an 
association for tbe purpose of endeavouring to open 
a water-communication between the capital and the 
rich districts of the Upper Provinces. The vessel 
they built for the purpose was fifty-two feet long, 
and drew about two feet water; which, with but 
little more assistance than was necessary to keep 
in the mid-stream, was floated down from the neigh- 



AND THE VERMEJO, 183 

bourliood of Oran by the current, and in fifty-seven 
days entered the Paraguay, without any other im- 
pediment than a feeble attempt on the part of some 
Indians, armed with bows and arrows, to annoy them 
as they passed through their lands. 

Once in the Paraguay, the main object of the 
voyage was accomplished. Unfortunately, however, 
for the adventurers themselves, they were there 
seized upon by Dr. Francia, the despotic ruler of 
that country, who, worse than the savages, detained 
them for five years.* He also deprived them of 
their papers ; and thus the details, of a most in- 
teresting voyage were lost, although the great and 
highly important fact was established beyond dis- 
pute of the existence of a safe and navigable water- 
communication the whole way from Oran to Buenos 
Ayres ; a result which must sooner or later be of 
immense consequence to the inhabitants of the Upper 
Provinces. 

About thirty miles below the mouth of the Ver- 
mejo the Paraguay is joined from the east by the 
great river Parana, which name it thence takes till 
it is finally lost in the Rio de la Plata. This river, 
rivalling in extent the Paraguay itself, rises in the 

* The following wording of Francia's decree upon first hearing of 
Soria's having arrived at Nembucu, within the jurisdiction of Para- 
guay, is a fair sample of his mode of doing business; — "Soriaisa 
bold, insolent, and shameless fellow for having come here without 
any previous permission, by a river which he has no business upon, 
and by which he may return as he came, if he can, for downwards 
neither he nor his vessel shall pass." 



184 THE RIVER PARANA 

mountain-chains to the north-west of Rio de Janeiro, 
in latitude 21°. Turning first westward, and after- 
wards towards the south, it is increased by several 
large rivers, amongst which the most noted are the 
Paranaiba, the Tiete, the Paranapan^, and the Curi- 
tava. On reaching the Guarani Missions, near Can- 
delaria, in about lat. 27° 30', it turns again west- 
ward, and runs with little deviation from that parallel 
till it falls into the Paraguay. Thence these two 
mighty rivers, mingling their waters, flow on in 
one vast and uninterrupted stream, gradually in- 
creased by many rivers of minor importance, which 
join it from either side, till they finally empty them- 
selves through a well-defined delta into the estuary 
of La Plata. 

The extent of the practicable navigation on the 
two great branches of this mighty river varies with 
the geological formation of the countries through 
which they respectively pass. 

The Parana, whilst running through the moun- 
tainous districts of Brazil, is broken by many falls 
above the Guarani Missions, especially one called 
the Salto Grande, in lat. 24° 4' 58" (as fixed by the 
officers of the Boundary Commission in 1788), 
where the river, which immediately before is nearly 
a league across, becomes suddenly confined by a 
rocky pass not more than sixty yards in width, 
through which it rushes with inconceivable fury, 
and forms a splendid cataract, between 50 and 60 
feet high, dashing down with such thundering noise 



BROKEN BY FALLS. 185 

that it is said to be heard at a distance of five or six 
leagues. For a hundred miles afterwards, as far as 
the mouth of the river Curitiba, in lat. 25° 41', the 
river is nothing but a succession of falls and rapids. 

The Paraguay, properly so called, on the con- 
trary, may be passed up by vessels of some burthen 
the whole way* to the Jauru, in latitude 16° 25', 
presenting the extraordinary extent of an uninter- 
rupted inland navigation of nearly nineteen degrees 
of latitude, calculating the straight distance north 
and south, throughout the whole of which there is 
not a rock or stone to impede the passage, the 
bottom being everywhere of clay or fine sand. The 
least depth of water is in the channels through the 
delta by which it discharges itself into the Plata, but 
in the passage called the Guazu (the great canal) 
there is seldom less than two and a half fathoms. 

The upper part of the river is extremely pictu- 
resque, and its shores abound in all the varieties of 
an intertropical vegetation. The palms particularly 
are remarkable for the magnificence of their growth. 
Below the junction of the Parana it is thickly 
studded with islands covered with wild orange-trees, 
and a variety of beautiful shrubs and parasitical 
plants, new to European eyes. 

It has been remarked that there is a great resem- 
blance in the periodical risings and inundations of 
the Paraguay and those of the Nile, and there is 

* Vessels of 300 tons burthen have been built above the city of 
Assumption, and floated down the river to Buenos Ayres. 



186 PERIODICAL INUNDATIONS 

certainly a striking analogy between the two rivers in 
many respects. Both rise in the torrid zone, nearly 
at the same distance from the equator, and both, 
though holding their courses towards opposite poles, 
disembogue by deltas in about the same latitude ; 
both are navigable for very long distances, and both 
have their periodical risings, bursting over their 
natural bounds, and inundating immense tracts of 
country. 

The Parana begins to rise about the end of 
December, which is soon after the commencement 
of the rainy season in the countries situated between 
the tropic of Capricorn and the equator, and in- 
creases gradually till the month of April, when it 
begins to fall something more rapidly until the 
month of July. There is afterwards a second rising, 
called by the natives the repunte ; but this, though 
regular, is of no great consequence, the river never 
overflowing its banks. It is probably occasioned by 
the swelling of the rivers from the winter rains in 
the temperate zone. 

The extent of these periodical risings is, of 
course, in some degree, regulated by the quantity, 
more or less, of rain which may fall during the 
corresponding season ; but, in general, the inunda- 
tion takes place with great regularity, the waters 
rising gradually about twelve feet in the bed of the 
river in four months ; this is the ordinary average 
of the increase of the river after its junction with 
the Paraguay ; though above it, at Assumption, 



OF THE RIVER PARAGUAY. 187 

where the river is more confined, the rise is said to 
be sometimes as much as five or six fathoms. 

The year 1812 was remarkable for the greatest 
flood in the memory of the natives. Vast quantities 
of cattle were carried away by it, and when the 
waters began to subside, and the islands which they 
had covered became again visible, the whole atmo- 
sphere for a time was poisoned by the effluvia from 
the innumerable carcases of skunks, capiguaras, 
tigers, and other wild beasts which had been 
drowned on them. On such occasions it frequently 
happens that the animals, to save themselves, swim 
off to the floating masses of canes and brushwood 
(called by the Spaniards '' camelotes"), and are thus 
carried down the river, and landed in the vicinity of 
the towns and villages upon the coast. Many strange 
stories are told of the unexpected visits of tigers so 
conveyed from their ordinary haunts to Buenos 
Ayres and Monte Video. One in my time was 
shot in my own grounds near Buenos Ayres, and 
some years before no less than four were landed in 
one night at Monte Video, to the great alarm of the 
inhabitants when they found them prowling about 
the streets in the morning. In the swampy region 
of Xarayes, where the inundation commences, the 
ants, which are in vast numbers there, have the 
sagacity to build their nests in the tops of the trees, 
far out of reach of the waters ; and these nests are 
made of a kind of adhesive clav, so hard that no 



188 RIVERS LOST 

cement can be more durable or impervious to the 
weather. 

During the inundation the river is exceedingly 
turbid, from the great quantity of vegetable sub- 
stances and mud brought down by it : — the velocity 
of the stream in the higher and narrower parts of 
the river at first prevents their deposition, but as it 
approaches the lower lands, or pampas, where it 
overflows its bed, these substances are spread over 
the face of the land, forming a grey slimy soil, 
which, on the abatement of the waters, is found to 
increase vegetation in a surprising degree. 

A calculation has been made by Colonel Monas- 
terios, author of an excellent paper on this river, 
printed in the Statistical Register of Buenos Ayres 
for 1822, that no less than 4000 square leagues of 
country are annually covered by the waters during 
the periodical inundations of the Parana. 

From the almost uninterrupted level of the 
country which intervenes between the eastern ranges 
of the Cordillera and the Paraguay, many rivers 
which descend from them are either partially or 
entirely lost, after long and tortuous meanderings, 
in swamps and lakes^ the waters of which are ab- 
sorbed by evaporation during tbe heats of summer. 
This is strikingly exemplified in the river Pasages, 
or Salado, which, from the great extent of its 
course, and the many other streams it collects in its 
long course from the province of Salta to Santa Fe, 



IN THE LOW LANDS. 189 

would be a river of the first importance, were not 
the greater part of its waters lost in the level plains 
through which it runs. The Dulce, which, passing 
by Tucunian and Santiago, runs parallel to it, is 
lost in the great lake called the Porongos, in the 
pampas of the province of Santa Fe. The Primero 
and Segundo, which rise in the province of Cor- 
dova, disappear in the same plains. The Tercero, 
the most important river of that province, with 
difficulty finds its way during part of the year to 
the bed of the Carcarafia, which falls into the 
Parana, near San Espiritu, below Santa Fe. The 
Quarto and the Quinto, and, still further south, the 
waters of the rivers from Mendoza and San Luis, 
are lost in the swamps and lakes which form so 
striking a feature in the maps of that part of the 
continent. 

The Uruguay, which contributes with the Parana 
to form the great estuary of La Plata, takes its name 
from the numerous falls and rapids which mark its 
course. The whole extent of its course is little less 
than 300 leagues. It rises in latitude 27° 30', in 
the mountains on the coast of Brazil, opposite the 
island of St. Catharine's^ and for a long distance 
ru|is nearly due west, receiving, besides many rivers 
of less importance, the Uruguay-Mini (or Little 
Uruguay) from the south, and the Pepiry-Guazti (or 
Great Pepiry) from the north. As it approaches 
the Parana it changes its course, inclining south- 
ward through the beautiful territories of the old 



190 THE URUGUAY. 

Jesuit Missions. Opposite to Yapeyu, the last of 
those establishments, it receives, in latitude 29° 30', 
the Ybicuy, a considerable stream from the east. In 
30° 12' the Mirinay pours into it from the west a 
great part of the drainage of the great lake or 
swamp of Ybera. Its principal tributaries after- 
wards are the Gualeguaychii, from the province of 
Entre Rios, and the Negro, the largest river of the 
Banda Oriental, soon after the junction of which 
it falls into the Plata with the Parana, in about 
34° south latitude. Flowing through a country the 
geological formation of which totally differs from 
that through which the Paraguay takes its course, 
its navigation is broken by many reefs and falls, 
only passable when the w^aters are at their highest, 
during the periodical floods, or by portages in the 
dry season. Of these the Salto Grande and Chico 
(the great and small falls), a little below the 31° of 
latitude^ are the first and worst impediments met 
with in ascending the river. The former consists 
of a rocky reef running like a wall across its bed, 
which at low water is at times crossed by the 
gauchos of the country on horseback, though during 
the floods it is passable in boats, by which, and 
canoes, the river is navigable without further danger 
as high up as the Missions. 

Beautiful specimens of silicified wood and varie- 
gated pebbles are found in the upper parts of the 
bed of this river, of which I brought many to this 
country. 



SURVEYS OF THESE RIVERS. IQl 

The Negro, which runs into it from the Banda 
Oriental, derives its name (the black river) from 
the sarsaparilla plant, which, at a particular season, 
rots upon its banks, and falls into the stream in 
such immense quantities as to discolour its waters, 
which are found to be highly medicinal, and much 
in request in consequence. The little village of 
Mercedes, near its mouth, has of late years been 
much resorted to by invalids from Buenos Ayres to 
drink these waters. 

The river Paraguay, as high as the Jaurii, was 
carefully laid down after the treaty of 1750 ; and 
the Spanish officers appointed to determine the 
boundaries, in virtue of that subsequently signed in 
1777, surveyed the Parana as high as the Tiete^ as 
well as the whole of the Uruguay, and determined 
the courses of all their most important affluents in 
the course of the eighteen years during which they 
were employed in laying down the southern division 
only of this survey. The results of their labours, 
which were only stopped by the renewal of war, may 
justly be ranked amongst the most beautiful and 
perfect geographical works ever produced. Copies 
of the whole existed at Buenos Ayres during my 
time in the hands of Colonel Cabrer, one of the 
officers originally attached to the commissioners ; 
and the Government of Buenos Ayres were in treaty 
for the purchase of them for the use of the topo- 
graphical department of the state, where, it is to 



192 ORIGINAL MAPS OBTAINED. 

be hoped, they will not be buried in unprofitable 
obscurity. 

When the war with Brazil for the Banda Oriental 
broke out, in 1826, Colonel Cabrer drew a MS. map 
from these materials for the use of General Alvear, 
the Buenos Ayrean Commander-in-chief, which he 
was afterwards kind enough to present to me. By 
a curious coincidence, about the same time, I obtained 
possession of one upon a large scale of the southern 
provinces of Brazil, drawn, by the Emperor's order, 
from the best data to be collected at Rio de Janeiro, 
for the Marquis of Barbacena, who commanded the 
Brazilian army, and lost it at the battle of Ituzaingo. 
They have, I believe, afforded Mr. Arrowsmith data 
for materially improving his last maps of that part of 
South America. 



PART II, 



THE PROVINCES. 



195 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE LITTORINE PROVINCES. 

SANTA FE ENTRE RIOS — CORRIENTES — THE OLD JESUIT 

MISSIONS PARAGUAY UNDER DR. FRANCIA. 

De Garay founds Santa F/, and meets with Spaniards from Peru. 
His subsequent Deeds and Death. The Government of the 
Rio de la Plata separated from that of Paraguay, and Santa Fe 
annexed to Buenos Ayres. Its former prosperity, and great 
capabilities, especially for Steam Navigation, The Entre Rios 
—constituted a Province in 1814, its Extent, Government, and 
Population — chiefly a grazing Country. Corrientes — its valu- 
able natural Productions — mistaken ideas of the people as to 
Foreign Trade. The Lake Ybera — Pigmies, Ants, Ant-Eaters, 
Locusts, and Beetles. The Missions now depopulated — their 
happy and flourishing state under the Jesuits. Paraguay — 
some Account of its former Prosperity and Trade, and the esta- 
blishment of the tyrannical rule of Dr. Francia. 

PROVINCE OF SANTA FE'. 

The first discoverers of La Plata, as has been 
already observed, fixed themselves in Paraguay, and 
established the seat of their government at Assump- 
tion, the capital of that province. In his way up 
the river, Sabastian Cabot built a fort, called Sancti- 
Espiritu, at the junction of the Carcarana vi^ith the 
Parana ; Ayolas, a few years after, built another 
not far from it, to which he gave the name of Corpus 

o2 



196 BE GAR AY FOUNDS 

Christi ; but these, like Mendoza's settlement at 
Buenos Ayres, were very soon destroyed by the 
warlike nations which then inhabited the whole of 
the right bank of the river ; and, for the first half- 
century, with their views solely fixed on making a 
nearer approach to Peru, the Spaniards concerned 
themselves but little about the conquest of the 
poorer lands they had left behind them. The ships, 
which during that time continued to arrive in the 
River Plate, with fresh adventurers from Spain, 
with an inland navigation before them, to Assump- 
tion, requiring as much time as the whole voyage 
out from Europe, were entirely dependent for the 
refreshments they required on the accidental good 
will of the natives. Once in the Parana, if any 
accident befel them, for nearly a thousand miles 
there was not a single Christian port in which they 
could take refuge. 

It was under these circumstances that Don Juan 
de Garay, a Biscayan hidalgo (in 1573), who had 
already greatly distinguished himself amongst his 
companions at arms in those parts, solicited and 
obtained permission to make a sally from Assump- 
tion, to endeavour to re-establish Cabot's fort at the 
mouth of the Carcarana, and to found other settle- 
ments upon the right bank of the Parana. 

The whole force he could muster for this enter- 
prise, when ready, consisted only of eighty men, a 
small party wherewith to attempt to seize upon 
lands defended by a numerous and warlike people, 



SANTA FE. 197 

already elated by former victories over the Spa- 
niards_, though probably as large a one as his own 
means would allow him to equip ; for in those days 
the whole charge of such undertakings devolved 
upon the projectors : — they were obliged to raise 
the means as they could, and their ultimate success 
of course very mainly depended upon the extent of 
their personal credit. 

De Garay landed, in the first instance, with his 
followers, thirty or forty miles to the north of tbe 
river Salado, and, finding the natives disposed to be 
friendly, and the aspect of the country inviting, 
he determined there to make his first settlement, 
naming it Santa Fe de la Vera- Cruz. 

The site originally fixed upon was where Cayesta 
now stands, upon an inferior branch of the Parana ; 
but, at a subsequent period, the Santa Fecinos re- 
moved lower down to the banks of the Salado. 

Whilst part of his people were employed upon 
the works, De Garay embarked with the rest in a 
small brig which attended him, and descending the 
Parana entered the Salado, and opened a communi- 
cation with the natives established upon its banks. 
There an adventure attended him, which he little 
looked for. Just as he flattered himself he had esta- 
bhshed a friendly understanding with the Indians, 
their conduct was observed suddenly to change : — 
a great stir took place amongst them, and they began 
to betake themselves to their arms, and to gather to- 
gether in such numbers that the Spaniards, alarmed, 



198 MEETS WITH SPANIARDS 

and expecting to be attacked by them, were glad to 
get on board their little vessel, and make the best 
preparations they could for defence. From the 
mast-head fires were seen lighting in every direc- 
tion, the well-known signal for war; and the man 
placed there to look out gave notice that the savages 
were pouring down towards them in vast numbers, 
not only by land, but by the river, in their canoes, 
apparently to attack them in their ship, 

De Garay, pent up in a little creek, into which 
he had run his vessel, and believing his situation 
desperate, was exhorting his people at any rate to 
defend themselves to the last, when suddenly the 
man called out that he saw a cavalier, presently 
another, and another, and then several more, charg- 
ing the Indians in their rear ; nor was it long before 
they saw the whole host dispersed, routed, and flying 
before a party of horsemen. The Spaniards were as 
much astonished at this unlooked-for encounter as 
the Indians, nor could they imagine to whom they 
were thus indebted for their preservation at the 
moment they expected to have been overwhelmed 
without a chance of succour, though that they were 
some of their countrymen they could not doubt after 
seeing the horses. 

The strangers were not long in making them- 
selves known ; they were soldiers from Tucuman^ 
who, under their leader Cabrera, having founded the 
city of Cordova on the same day that De Garay had 
commenced his settlement at Santa Fe, were then 



FROM TUCUMAN. 199 

scouring the country to take possession of it as be^ 
longing to his jurisdiction; De Garay in vain re- 
sisted this pretension, and claimed it as belonging to 
Paraguay, in right of prior possession and settle- 
ment: the others insisting with a superior force, 
he had no alternative but to temporise, and submit 
himself to Cabrera's orders, trusting to the higher 
powers to order the matter differently. 

Fortunately for the settlement of this question ere 
it led to more serious consequences, the Adelantado 
Zarate opportunely arrived from Spain with a grant 
from the King, explicitly including in his govern- 
ment all settlements which might be founded on 
either shore of the river for the distance of 200 
leagues : he not only confirmed De Garay in his 
command at Santa Fe, but took him into such 
especial favour, that, dying soon afterwards, he left 
him guardian of his only daughter ; she, by his ad- 
vice, married Don Juan de Vera and Arragon, who 
in consequence succeeded to the Adelantasgo, which 
greatly increased the influence of De Garay, who 
was immediately appointed lieutenant over all the 
Rio de la Plata, and furnished with full authority to 
carry into effect his own plans for reducing the 
Indians to subjection upon its shores. Armed with 
these powers he conquered some of the most warlike 
of the native tribes, and established the fame and 
power of the Spaniards far and wide throughout all 
those regions : — the last of his deeds was the found- 
ation, in 1580, of the present city of Buenos Ayres, 



200 SANTA f:^ 

as has been before stated. After passing three years 
in superintending the laying out of the future capital 
of all those provinces, upon his return to Assump- 
tion, going incautiously on shore one night to sleep, 
he was surprised and killed by the savages. Para- 
guay lost in him one of her wisest and most valiant 
captains, whose death was greatly lamented, by the 
poor especially, to whom his beneficence was un- 
bounded. 

The importance of the settlements he founded 
was soon apparent ; and in 1620 they were formed 
into a government independent of that of Paraguay, 
under the name of the Government of La Plata ; it 
comprised all south of the junction of the rivers 
Parana and Paraguay. Santa Fe in consequence 
became a dependency of Buenos Ayres ; an arrange- 
ment confirmed in every territorial settlement sub- 
sequently made by any competent authority. 

In the domestic dissensions, however, which 
succeeded the establishment of the independent Go- 
vernment at Buenos Ayres, Santa Fe took an active 
part, and disputed the right of the newly-constituted 
authorities to interfere in the nomination of the pro- 
vincial administrations. Under these circumstances, 
in 1818, Lopez, a military officer who had particu- 
larly distinguished himself in his resistance to the 
Central Government upon this point, obtained the 
command of the province, in which he has ever since 
been continued. Various circumstances have con- 
curred to leave him not only in undisturbed posses- 



BEFORE ITS INDEPENDENCE. 201 

sion of this local authority, but to render him in later 
times a personage of some importance in the political 
history of the Republic. The jurisdiction he lays 
claim to for the soi-disant province of Santa Fe ex- 
tends as far south as the Arroyo del Medio, to the 
west to the lakes of Porongos, and to the north as 
far as the lands of the Indians of the Gran-chaco, 
or Great Desert, against whom he has enough to do 
to defend himself. 

In old times Santa Fe, under the protection of the 
Central Government, which spared no expense in con- 
structing forts and maintaining the forces requisite to 
keep the Indians in check, was the central point of 
communication not only between Buenos Ayres and 
Paraguay, but between Paraguay and the provinces 
of Cuyo and Tucuman : the wines and dried fruits of 
Mendoza and St. Juan were brought there to be car- 
ried up to Corrientes and Paraguay, which in return 
supplied the people of those provinces, as well as 
those of Chile and Peru, through the same channel, 
with all the yerba-mate they required, of which the 
annual consumption in those provinces alone was 
calculated at from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 lbs. 

The estancieros were amongst the richest in the 
Vice-Royalty ; and their cattle-farms not only covered 
the territory of Santa Fe, but large tracts on the 
eastern shores of the river in the Entre Rios ; from 
which they furnished by far the greater part of the 
50,000 mules yearly sent to Salta for the service of 
Peru. 



202 IMPORTANCE OF ITS 

Their situation is now a very different one: the 
stoppage of the trade with Paraguay and Peru has 
reduced them to a wretched state of poverty ; and 
their estrangement from the capital having left them 
without adequate means of defence, the savages have 
attacked them with impunity, laid Avaste the greater 
part of the province, and more than once threatened 
the town itself with annihilation. 

The population has greatly diminished ; — perhaps 
in the whole province there are not now more than 
15,000 or 20,000 souls, a large proportion of which 
is of Guarani origin, the descendants of emigrants 
from the Jesuit missions in Paraguay, who aban- 
doned them after the expulsion of their pastors in 
1768. 

This state of things is the more lamentable as 
Santa Fe might, under a different system, become 
one of the most important points of the Republic : 
once more under the decided protection of the 
Government of Buenos Ayres, not only might its 
own particular interests be vastly advanced, but the 
greatest benefits might result to the rest of the 
union. 

Its situation offers striking facilities for carrying 
on a more active transit-trade between Buenos Ayres 
and the provinces north of Cordova. The river 
Salado, on which it stands, is known to be navi- 
gable for barges as high up as Matara, in the 
province of Santiago, and at no great distance 
from that city ; if it were made use of there would 



GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION. 203 

be a saving of upwards of 250 leagues of land-car- 
riage in conveying goods from Buenos Ayres to 
Santiago ; but, even if this should turn out not to be 
so practicable as it is said to be, a direct road is 
open from Santa Fe, which, passing by the lakes of 
Porongos, skirts the river Dulce, and falls into the 
high road from Cordova a few posts south of the 
city of Santiago ; which, at the lowest computation, 
would still be 100 leagues short of the over-land 
route now used from the capital to the Upper Pro- 
vinces by way of Cordova. 

In any part of the world such a saving of land- 
carriage would be a considerable object ; but in a 
country where the roads are just as nature has 
made them, and where the only means of transport 
for heavy goods are the most unwieldy of primitive 
waggons, drawn by oxen- — the slowest of all con- 
veyances, — not to speak of its expense, and the 
risks, independently of the wear and tear necessarily 
attending it, it becomes of the greatest importance. 
That it has not hitherto been available, is owing to 
the difficulties attending the navigation of a large 
river, not only against the current, but against a 
prevalence of contrary winds, which have rendered 
the passage of the Parana up to Santa Fe even more 
tedious and expensive than the long over-land journey. 
But the introduction of steam-boats would at once 
obviate this, and enable the people of Buenos Ayres 
to send their heaviest goods to Santa Fe by water- 
carriage in less time than a horse can now gallop over 



204 ARGUMENT FOR 

the intervening country, for there is no reason in the 
world why the ordinary voyage thither should exceed 
at the utmost three days. I can hardly imagine a 
greater change in the prospects of a [)eople than this 
would open to the Santa Fecinos. 

There is, however, another point of view, of serious 
consequence to Buenos Ayres, in which for her own 
sake it concerns her to look to the advantages, if 
not to the necessity, of taking speedy measures to in- 
troduce steam-navigation upon the Parana. Since 
the erection of the Banda Oriental into an inde- 
pendent state, the yearly imports into Monte Video 
have increased out of all x'atio to the scanty popula- 
tion of that state : — it is very evident what becomes 
of the excess, and that not only the people on the 
eastern, but those on the western, shores of the 
Uruguay, are supplied through that channel. The 
government • of Monte Video takes care so to regu- 
late its duties as to make this a profitable trade : — 
whilst it cannot be denied that the inhabitants of 
Entre Rios and Santa Fe have quite as much right 
to traffic with their neighbours as those of Mendoza 
and Salta have to trade with Chile and Peru. 

Buenos Ayres has already suffered a great loss of 
revenue in consequence, and this loss will yearly 
increase, to the great detriment of the national credit, 
for which she is responsible, and to the still further 
estrangement of the provinces from each other, un- 
less she takes active means to counteract the evil : 
— those means are in her own hands. The intro- 



STEAM NAVIGATION. 205 

duction of steam-navigation, by establishing a * 
cheaper communication between her own port and 
the Littorine provinces, will soon put an end to 
the profits of the over-land trade which is at pre- 
sent carried on through the Banda Oriental. It 
may, perhaps, be necessary, in the first instance, to 
grant some remission of the ordinary duties, in the 
shape of drawback or otherwise, upon goods re- 
shipped for other parts of the republic in steamers, 
as well as upon all produce of the country received 
by the same conveyance in exchange : — but, what- 
ever apparent sacrifice Buenos Ayres may make to 
promote this object, she may be assured she will be 
repaid a hundred-fold by the results. 

If the confederation of these provinces is to be a 
real one, and for joint benefit, they must pull toge- 
ther, and help one another. They possess, in a sin- 
gular degree, within themselves, the means of mutual 
aid and support, and, if properly applied, they can 
hardly fail to insure them a great increase of indi- 
vidual prosperity and national importance. 

The reverse of the picture has been foretold in 
words which no man can gainsay : — " if a king- 
dom be divided against itself , that kingdom cannot 
stand.' 



206 



PROVINCE OF ENTRE RIOS. 

The Entre Rios territory^ bounded on three sides 
by the Parana, and on the east by the river Uru- 
guay, like Santa Fe, formed part of the intendency 
of Buenos Ayres till the year 1814, when the gene- 
ral government divided it into two distinct provinces, 
called the provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes : 
— the separating line between them, for the present 
agreed upon, is that formed by the little river Guay- 
quiraro, which falls into the Parana in about latitude 
30° 30', and the Mocoreta, which runs in the oppo- 
site direction into the Uruguay. 

The Villa del Parana, or Bajada, opposite to 
Santa Fe, is, nominally, the capital town of Entre 
Rios ; — which province is subdivided by the river 
Gualeguay into two departments, that of the Parana 
and that of the Uruguay. 

According to the Provisional Reglamento or 
Constitution drawn up in 1821, in imitation of that 
of Buenos Ayres, the governor should be chosen 
every two years by a provincial junta, composed of 
deputies from the several towns or villages, the prin- 
cipal of which, after the capital, are the Villa de la 
Concepcion on the Uruguay ; and Nogoya, Gualeguay, 
and Gualeguay chii, on the rivers of the same name. 

The population may be about 30,000 souls, — very 



ENTRE RIOS. 



207 



much scattered, — and almost entirely occupied in 
the estancias or cattle-farms, in which the wealth of 
the province chiefly consists. Many of them belong 
to capitalists in Buenos Ayres : — they have the ad- 
vantages of a never-failing supply of water, and of 
being safe from any inroads of the Indians, — the 
two great desiderata for such establishments in that 
part of the world, — whilst their proximity to Buenos 
Ayres ensures a ready sale for the produce. 

These advantages made it a great cattle-country 
in the time of the Spaniards, but it was devastated 
and depopulated in the first years of the struggle for 
independence by the notorious Artigas and his fol- 
lowers, and became the scene of much bloodshed and 
confusion : — from that it had hardly begun to recover 
when the war, breaking out between the Republic 
and Brazil for the Banda Oriental, again made it 
the theatre, as a frontier province, of military opera- 
tions, and unsettled the habits of the population. 
The years which have elapsed since the conclusion 
of that war have sufficed once more to cover the pro- 
vince with cattle, and there are gauchos enough to 
take care of them. 



208 



PROVINCE OF CORRIENTES. 

The population of the province of Corrientes in 
1824 was estimated at from 35,000 to 40,000 in- 
habitants. It is ruled by a governor elected by a 
junta of deputies, — how they are chosen I know not. 
His official acts are countersigned by a secretary, 
and in law matters he is assisted by an officer 
termed the assessor, — a point of form common, I 
believe, to all the provincial administrations, and 
derived from the practice of the intendents in the 
time of the Spanish rule. 

The city of Corrientes was begun in 1588, soon 
after De Garay founded his settlements at Santa Fe 
and Buenos Ayres. Its position is in latitude 27° 
27', at the junction of the rivers Parana and Para- 
guay^ and it may also be said of the Vermejo, the 
mouth of which is not more than ten leagues distant 
from it: — it aflPords, in consequence, every facility 
for an active commercial intercourse with the most 
remote parts of the republic. The natural produc- 
tions in these latitudes are similar to those of Brazil, 
and cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar, indigo, and many 
other articles of the first demand in the markets of 
Europe, may be produced there in any quantity : — but 
the same difficulties to which I have already alluded, 
in speaking of the navigation of the Parana, aggra- 



CORRIENTES. 209 

vated by increased distance, have hitherto prevented 
the people of Corrientes from profiting, as might 
have been expected, by these advantages, and have 
checked all inducement to industry ; although they 
themselves, in their simplicity, ascribe the non-culti- 
vation of their lands to different causes :— they think, 
with their neighbour Dr. Francia, that foreign ships 
might just as well go to them as to Buenos Ayres, 
and that they do not do so they ascribe to the policy 
of the metropolitan government, which they ungrate- 
fully reproach with refusing to throw open the navi- 
gation of the river to foreign trade in order to 
appropriate to their own purposes the revenue re- 
sulting from it, — regardless of the fact that the 
collection of those duties is the only means by which 
Buenos Ayres can ever expect to discharge either 
interest or capital of the heavy debts she has in- 
curred in securing the independence, and in since 
upholding the honour and credit of the republic. ' 

There can be no doubt that it will always be the 
true policy of the governors of Buenos Ayres to 
render those duties as light as possible, and espe- 
cially to reduce, as far as they can, all charges upon 
the native produce from the provinces of the interior ; 
but if they are to be placed, as they always have 
been, and from their geographical position always 
must be, in the vanguard of the republic, to bear the 
brunt of foreign wars, and all those expenses which 
must naturally arise out of their intercourse with 
other nations, they can never give up their right to 

P 



210 NOTIONS OF TRADE. 

avail themselves of the ordinary resources for meet- 
ing such exigencies which are placed within their 
reach. 

If the expenses of the war with the mother coun- 
try for their independence, and afterwards of that 
with Brazil for estahlishing that of the Banda 
Oriental, could be fairly apportioned amongst the 
population of the provinces, the people of Corrientes, 
as well as of all other parts of the interior, would 
soon see that the custom-house duties now levied 
at Buenos Ay res which affect them would go but 
little way to meet anything like the share of that 
national expenditure which might be justly charged 
against tbem. 

It is, however, useless to enter into this discussion, 
when the truth is, that, whether Buenos Ayres 
chooses or not to declare the navigation of the 
Parana free, the people of Corrientes may rest as- 
sured it will never answer to the shipping of foreign 
nations to avail themselves of it : — foreigners will 
purchase the productions of Corrientes and of Para- 
guay if placed within their reach at low prices, but 
they will not unnecessarily incur the risks and ex- 
penses of sending their own ships a thousand miles 
up a river against wind and tide, in quest of a cargo 
which may at all times be had in the seaports of 
Brazil. 

Steam-communication will enable the Correntinos 
to compete with the Brazilians, and it is perhaps 
the only means by which they will be enabled to 



LAKE YBERA. 211 

find any sale for their produce at such a rate as will 
make it worth the while of foreigners to seek for it, 
even in the market of Buenos Ay res. They have 
every facility for establishing it, — navigable rivers 
communicating with the farthest extremes of the re- 
public, — and an endless abundance of wood of every 
kind for fuel. 

A remarkable physical feature in this province 
is the great lagoon of Ybera, extending in width 
about thirty leagues parallel to the course of the 
Parana, from which it is supposed to derive its 
waters by some underground drainage, for no stream 
runs into it. Spreading far, and wide to the 
south it occupies the enormous space of about a 
thousand square miles, and supplies four consider- 
able rivers — the Mirinay, which runs into the Uru- 
guay ; and the Santa Lucia, the Bateles, and the Cor- 
rientes, which discharge themselves into the Parana. 
It was Azara's opinion, from the general aspect of the 
country, that the Parana itself at some former period 
took its course through this lake, and might again 
resume its ancient channel. At present it is hardly 
possible to explore any part of it from the prodigious 
quantity of aquatic plants and shrubs by which it is 
for the most part covered. 

V/hat a store of lacustrine deposits is here form- 
ing for the examination of future geologists ! 

Connected with this lake is the tradition, which 
has been handed down by early Spanish writers, of 
a nation of pigmies, who were said to have lived in 

p2 



212 THE ANTS 

islands in the midst of it, a tale which the first dis- 
coverers, who were generally as ignorant as they 
were brave, seem to have as implicitly believed as 
that a race of giants once occupied other parts of the 
same continent. 

Both tales are easily traceable to their true origin, 
and neither of them is without a plausible found- 
ation. 

The bones of extinct animals of monstrous size, 
so frequently met with, gave rise_, as well they might, 
to the story of the giants. The pigmies are a race 
unfortunately not yet extinct, and are palpably the 
ants, whose marvellous works (especially in the part 
of the country I am speaking of), vying with those of 
man himself, are no less calculated to have occa- 
sioned at first sight, amongst credulous people, 
the most far-fetched conjectures as to their origin. 
I have made some allusion, in speaking of the course 
of the river Paraguay, to their ingenious contrivances 
in the lakes of Xarayes (where also the pigmy 
tribes were said to have dwelt), but those are no- 
thing compared to the works of the ants of Corri- 
entes and Paraguay, where whole plains are said to 
be covered with their buildings of dome-like and 
conical forms, rising five and six feet and more in 
height, and formed of a cement hard as a rock, and 
impervious to the wet. Man's vanity might easily 
prompt him to mistake them for works of his own 
kind in miniature ; but, all-presumptuous as he is, 
nothing he has ever yet constructed in all the pleni- 



AND THEIR BUILDINGS. 213 

tude of his power is comparable to the works of these 
little insects. The Pyramids of Egypt do not bear 
one half the relative proportion to his own size which 
the ordinary habitations of these ants do to theirs. 

Their works under ground are no less extraordi- 
nary : Azara has described with his usual minute- 
ness the various species which he fell in with. There 
is one amongst others which is winged, and the 
swarms of which are so prodigious, that he says he 
rode for three leagues continuously through one of 
them. This was in about the latitude of Santa Fe, 
where they particularly abound, and where the people 
catch them and eat them. The hind parts it seems 
are very fat, and they fry them into a sort of paste 
or omelette, or, mixed up with sugar, make sweet- 
meats of them. 

They are a sad pest to the agriculturist and a 
great nuisance when they get inside the houses. 
At Buenos Ayres they are very troublesome : I tried 
myself every means in vain to get rid of them : their 
ingenuity always baffled us; no contrivance could 
keep anything in the shape of sweetmeats or dried 
fruits or such things out of their clutches ; and as to 
the quantity of sugar they w^ould carry off in a very 
short time, it was incredible : we thought to escape 
them by placing our stores upon tables, the legs 
of which were surrounded by water, but they threw 
straws and sticks into the water, and so made them- 
selves bridges to cross by. If we hung them from 
the ceiling they climbed the walls and descended by 



214 THE ANT-BEAR. 

the ropes which suspended them. In our garden 
they committed terrible depredations ; and in the 
summer-season it was always necessary to keep a 
couple of men constantly employed for the sole pur- 
pose of destroying their nests. We observed that 
they could not exist in the sun ; so that, if a basin 
of sugar were half filled with them, as was constantly 
the case, by putting it into the sun it was presently 
cleared of every one of them. 

The Jesuit father Guevara, in his account of Pa- 
raguay, speaks of a species not noticed by Azara, 
found about Villa Rica, which deposits upon certain 
plants small globules of white wax, which the inha- 
bitants collect to make candles of. The utility they 
are of in this respect, he says, in some measure com- 
pensates for the damage they do to the husbandman. 
Against their depredations, St. Simon and St. Jude, 
and St. Bonifacio*, have been by turns elected in due 
form to be the special guardians and protectors of all 
good Catholics. 

Fortunately, however, in those regions where these 
insects most abound, an all-wise Providence has also 
placed a most remarkable animal — formed, as it 
would appear, expressly for the purpose of destroy- 
ing them and preventing their overrunning the 
land — the tamandua, or, as we call it, the ant-bear. 

"*" The same saints are invoked to keep down the rats — another 
{)lague of these countries — attracted, no doubt, by the smell of beef 
everywhere, as they are in the abattoirs of Paris. The eleven thou- 
sand Virgins were the guardian angels against the locusts. 



THE LOCUSTS. 215 

I hardly know any animal which exhibits more 
striking evidence of design on the part of the 
Creator: slow and sluggish in all its movements, 
without power of escape, and apparently without 
the ordinary means of self-defence, its long trumpet- 
shaped snout solely formed to contain the singular 
prehensory organ with which it is furnished for the 
purpose of taking its diminutive prey, being entirely 
destitute of anything like the teeth of other animals ; 
it would be speedily exterminated by the beasts of 
prey which abound where it is found, were it not — 
as if to compensate for these deficiencies — providen- 
tially supplied with strong sharp claws, and such 
courage and muscular power to use them, as enables 
it to defy every assailant. When attacked it throws 
itself upon its back, and in that posture will make so 
desperate a resistance, that it is a match either for 
the jaguar or tiger, its fiercest enemies. 

The ants are not the worst plagues in these coun- 
tries : destructive as they are, they are not to be 
compared with the locusts ; though, happily (and 
indeed were it otherwise^ all man's labour would be 
vain), they are only occasional visitors. When they 
do come they lay the land utterly desolate. 

I once witnessed one of their visitations, and, but that 
I had myself seen the extent of the devastation caused 
by them, I certainly would not have believed it. 

They made their appearance at first in a large 
dense cloud, hovering high in the air, as if hesitating 
where to descend. All the shovels and pots and 



216 SWARM OF BEETLES. 

pans in Buenos Ayres were put in requisition to 
make a clatter to affright them, but in vain ; down 
they came, to the consternation of the owners of 
every quinta, or garden, in the neighbourhood of the 
city. They soon spread for several miles over the 
surface of the land, and so thickly that it was like 
driving over gravel to go amongst them ; — that, I 
well remember was just my impression upon going 
out upon the high road in a carriage whilst they 
were on the ground. They had then been at their 
work of destruction two or three days, and were for 
the most part so gorged as to be quite incapable of 
moving; in a day or two more they had literally not 
left a blade of grass or a green leaf to be seen ; some 
of those that were not then dying of satiety began 
to devour one another. This was early in the year 
1826. Though they were always as thick as grass- 
hoppers, I never saw at Buenos Ayres what was 
termed a flight of locusts but that once, in nearly 
nine years. 

It was succeeded a few days afterwards by a fligh* 
of small black beetles, which came down like hail, 
and were swept up by shovels-full in our balconies : 
it was a small insect, about the size of an earwig, 
and was said to have the same habits ; they worked 
their way into the house in great numbers, where 
they fell into a sort of torpid state, in which they 
became an easy prey to the ants, who upon this 
occasion were our active allies, and helped us to get 
rid of them. 



217 



THE OLD MISSIONS OF THE JESUITS. 

To the eastward of Comentes are the depopulated 
ruins, all that remain, of the once famed Missions 
of the Jesuits, the greater part of which were situ- 
ated on the shores of the Parana and Uruguay, 
where the courses of those rivers nearly meet. 

When the order was expelled from South Ame- 
rica in 1767, there were a hundred thousand inha- 
bitants in the thirty towns in those parts under 
their control. In those situated east of the Parana, 
not a thousand souls remained in 1825, according to 
an account I received from the officer who was in 
command there at that period, and they were I be- 
lieve shortly afterwards swept off during the war 
with Brazil for the occupation of the Banda Oriental. 
The other towns beyond the Parana, being within 
the jurisdiction of Paraguay, have fared little better 
under Dr. Francia. 

This was that Imperium in imperio which once 
excited the astonishment of the world and the jea- 
lousy of princes : how little cause they had to be 
alarmed by it was best proved by the whole fabric 
falling to pieces on the removal of a few poor old 
priests : a more inoffensive community never existed. 

It was an experiment on a vast scale, originated in 
the purest spirit of Christianity, to domesticate and 



218 THE JESUITS 

render useful hordes of savages who would otherwise, 
like the rest of the aborigines, have been miserably 
exterminated in war or slavery by the conquerors of 
the land. Its remarkable success excited envy and 
jealousy, and caused a thousand idle tales to be cir- 
culated as to the political views of the Jesuits in 
founding such establishments, which unfortunately 
gained too easy credence in a credulous age, and con- 
tributed, there is no doubt, to hasten the downfall of 
their order. 

Their real crime, if crime it was, was the posses- 
sion of that moral power and influence which was 
the natural consequence of their surpassing know- 
ledge and wisdom in the times in which they lived. 

With respect to their Missions in South America, 
nothing could be more inconsistent than the allega- 
tions made against them : — whilst accused, on the 
one hand, of aiming at the establishment of a power- 
ful and independent supremacy, they were_, on the 
other, at the same time, reproached with having sys- 
tematically kept the Indians in a state of infantine 
tutelage. 

What would have been the consequences of the 
opposite system ? How long would the Spanish 
rule in those countries have lasted had the Jesuits 
trained up a hundred thousand of the proper owners 
of the soil in any practical knowledge of the rights 
of man ? How long would the Jesuits themselves 
have preserved their influence with them ? 

The Indians loved the Jesuits, and looked to them 



BELOVED BY THE INDIANS. 219 

as to their fathers, and great were their lamentations 
when they were taken from them, and replaced by 
the unprincipled Franciscan friars sent to them by 
Bucareli, the Captain General of Buenos Ayres :~ 
the following memorials, addressed to him from the 
Missions of San Luis and Martires, will serve to 
throw some light on the true feelings of the people 
with regard to their old and new pastors. 

I have given a copy of one of the originals in 
Guarani in the Appendix, as a specimen of a lan- 
guage, which, of all the native tongues, was, perhaps, 
the most diffused in South America, and which, to 
this day, may be traced from the Parana to the 
Amazons : — 

No. I. 

Translation of a Memorial addressed by the people 
of the Mission of San Luis to the Governor of 
Buenos Ayres, praying that the Jesuits may re- 
main with them instead of the Friars sent to re- 
place them. 

(J. H. 8.) 

" God preserve your Excellency, say we, the 
Cabildo, and all the Caciques and Indians, men, 
women, and children, of San Luis, as your Excel- 
lency is our father. The Corregidor Santiago 
Pindo and Don Pantaleon Cayuari, in their love 
for us, have written to us for certain birds which 
they desire we will send them for the King : — we 



220 INDIAN 

are very sorrj^ not to have them to send, inasmuch as 
they live vi^here God made them — in the forests,— 
and fly far away from us, so that we cannot catch 
them. 

" Withal we are the vassals of God and of the 
King, and always desirous to fulfil the wishes of his 
ministers in what they desire of us. Have we not 
been three times as far as Colonia with our aid ? — 
and do we not labour in order to pay tribute ? — and 
now we pray to God that that best of birds — the 
Holy Ghost — may descend upon the King, and en- 
lighten him, and may the Holy Angel preserve him ! 

" So, confiding in j^our Excellency, Senor Go- 
vernor, our proper father, with all humility, and 
with tears, we beg that the Sons of St. Ignatius, the 
Fathers of the Society of Jesus, may continue to live 
with us and remain always amongst us. This we 
beg your Excellency to supplicate of the King for 
us for the love of God : — all this people, — men, 
women, and young persons, and especially the poor, 
— pray for the same with tears in their eyes. 

" As for the friars and priests sent to replace 
them, we love them not. The Apostle St. Thomas, 
the minister of God, so taught our forefathers in 
these same parts, — for these friars and priests have 
no care for us. The Sons of San Ignatius, yes, — 
they, from the very first, took care of our forefathers, 
and taught them, and baptized them, and preserved 
them for God and the King : — but for these friars 
and priests, in no manner do we wish for them. 



MEMORIALS. 221 

'' The Fathers of the Society of Jesus know how 
to bear with our weaknesses, and we were happy 
under them for God's sake and the King's : — if 
your Excellency, good Senor Governor, will listen 
to our prayer, and grant our request, we will pay 
larger tribute in the yerha caa-mini.^ 

*' We are not slaves, and we desire to say that 
the Spanish custom is not to our liking, — for every 
one to take care of himself, instead of assisting 
one another in their daily labours. t This is the 
plain truth which we say to your Excellency_, that 
it may be attended to : — if it is not, this people, like 
the rest, will be lost. This to your Excellency, to 
tlie King, and to God, — we shall go to the Devil ! — ■ 
and at the hour of our death where will be our help ? 

" Our children, who are in the country and in the 
towns, when they return and find not the Sons of 
San Ignatius, will flee away to the deserts and to 
the forests to do evil. Already it would seem that 
the people of San Joaquim, San Estanislaus, San 
Ferdinand, and Tymbo, are lost, — we know it well, 
and we say so to your Excellency : — neither can the 
Cabildos ever restore these people for God and the 
King as they were. 

" So, good Governor, grant us what we ask, — and 

* The best sort of tea, in which the Indians paid their annual tri- 
bute to the Crown. 

t The Indians, under the system of the Jesuits, had been accus- 
tomed to work in community for a common stock, out of which all the 
wants of every individual were regularly and adequately provided for. 



222 INDIAN 

may God help and keep you. This is what we say 
in the name of the people of San Luis, this 28th of 
February, 1768. 

*' Your humble servants and children." 
(Signed by the members of the municipality.) 

No. II. 

Complaint of the people of Martires of the conduct 
of the priests sent to them after the expulsion of 
the Jesuits. 

(J. H. S.) 
" To our most excellent Governor : — 
*' Blessed and praised be the holy sacrament ! 
God our Lord grant you a long life and health on 
earth, and happiness hereafter in heaven. So we 
pray him, — we, the Corregidor, Cabildo, and Ca- 
ciques of the people of the Holy Martyrs, — who, 
casting ourselves with all humility at your feet, give 
praises to God and to our King, and to you, Senor 
Governor, for having come by his command, as his 
deputy, amongst us. 

" Holding you in the highest reverence, we make 
known to you that all this people are perfectly 
obedient to the orders of our Catholic King, trying 
to esteem and respect the spiritual pastors sent to 
us, in nothing failing in our duties towards them, 
with all due respect, as they are the ministers of God. 
'' But, although this is our behaviour, they are 
not satisfied with us : — for two or three days they 
were pleased with our humility, and no longer. 



MEMORIALS. 223 

" It has happened that the Corregidor, wishing 
to execute the orders of the Governor, the Curate 
has said, — -^ This man wrongs you : — in what light 
do you look upon his authority compared with that 
of your priests ? The King himself is only a supe- 
rior governor, and shall be food for the worms, and 
nothing more : — I fear no one.' Saying so he or- 
dered fifty stripes to be given to an Indian ; and a 
poor woman he ordered to be tied to a post, and 
flogged. He goes about with a stick in his hand 
to beat us, and a few days past he punished an 
Indian with blows in the church itself, before all the 
people : — another he beat in the square^ saying, — 
* If I kill him I shall do no great harm.' 

'' The Administrator alone sometimes protects us 
from these punishments, saying to him, with proper 
respect, — ' Father, you have no business to interfere 
in temporal matters,' — and for this he is not w^ell 
with him. This officer endeavours to observe the 
commands of God and of the King for the good of 
this people, and in nothing have we to complain of 
him. He helps us on all occasions, and much we 
stand in need of it, Seiior Governor. 

" But God and the King have appointed you for 
our comfort, and so we make known to you our 
difficulties. We are fearful lest the people should 
lose their obedience and respect for the King's 
orders, when they hear the priests call the mandates 
of the King, and of his Governor, words of no con- 
sequence : — and so for 5^our guidance we tell you 



224 RUIN OF THE MISSIONS. 

the truth, which God knows, and is testified to by 
all this people. Santos Martires, 16th April, 1768." 
(Signed by the Cabildo, &c.) 



Bucareli, on receipt of the first of these simple 
documents, sent it to Spain, with the ridiculous 
announcement that he considered it as the fore- 
runner of a rising in favour of the Jesuits, and had, 
in consequence, ordered a chosen body of troops 
to proceed immediately from Paraguay and Cor- 
rientes to the neighbourhood of the Missions to be 
in readiness to put down the expected insurrection : 
thither too he proceeded himself to take the field 
in person against the rebels. 

He found them not in arms but in tears : — the 
Jesuits, though he could not believe it, had brought 
up the Indians in obedience, and in the love of their 
King as well as of God, — and, having said their say, 
they resigned themselves submissively to the orders 
of their newly-appointed superiors, — giving thanks 
to the King for having sent a personage of such 
importance as Bucareli to take care of them. 
Bucareli met, in fact, with not the slightest oppo- 
sition from the Indians, in substituting his own 
system of administration for that of the Jesuits, 
which he had been amongst the foremost to find 
fault with. 

The efficacy of his own measures may be j udged 
by their result : — he sent them civil governors, and 



SYSTEM OF THE JESUITS. 225 

appointed Franciscan friars for their spiritual pas- 
tors : — the misrule of the first, and the little respect 
inspired by the latter, compared with the uniformly 
exemplary lives of their predecessors, brought about? 
in little more than a quarter of a century, the entire 
ruin and depopulation of these once happy and pros- 
perous communities. The Indians, as they them- 
selves predicted in their letter to him, when there 
was no longer sufficient wisdom in their governors 
to prevent it, were lost both to God and the King. 

In saying this I do not pretend to dispute that 
the institutions of the Jesuits were not, in many 
points, defective, like all others of man's creation ; 
they were, however, framed under very remark- 
able and novel circumstances, for which great al- 
lowances must be made in any comparison of them 
with the social systems of Europe ; if we look at 
the good they did, rather than for the evil which 
they did not, we shall find that, in the course of 
about a century and a half, upwards of a million of 
Indians were made Christians by them, and taught 
to be happy and contented under the mild and 
peaceful rule of their enlightened and admirable 
pastors, — a blessed lot compared with the savage 
condition of the unreclaimed tribes around them. 



226 



PARAGUAY, 

strictly speaking, has no place in this book, being, 
as it is for the present, a distinct and separate Re- 
public; but, like the Missions, it is impossible to 
pass so near it without some allusion to its former 
prosperity, and to its present very singular condition 
under the despotic rule of Dr. Francia. ^ '^-i-' 

It was in Paraguay that the first conqiferors of 
the country fixed their abode and the seat of their 
government : — it was there also, attracted by the 
same inducements of a genial clime and a profusion 
of natural productions to satisfy all man s wants, 
that the Jesuit fathers laid the original foundations 
of their celebrated establishments just spoken of. 
Its population, before it ceased to be a province 
subject to the government of Buenos Ayres, was 
estimated at 200,000 souls, and the yearly value of 
its surplus produce, exported for consumption to 
Buenos Ayres and the interior provinces, fell little 
short of a million and a half of dollars. Eight 
millions of pounds of Paraguay tea were annually 
sent to Santa Fe and Buenos Ayres, besides a 
million of pounds of tobacco, large quantities of 
timber for every purpose, cotton, sugar, molasses, 
spirits, and a variety of other articles. 

The yerba-mate, or tea, which forms the principal 
article in the list, is as much in general use and 



PARAGUAY. 227 

demand throughout all the provinces of La Plata, 
Chile, and many parts of Peru, as the teas of China 
are in Europe. The plant which produces it (the 
Ilex Paraguay ensis) is an evergreen about the size 
of an orange-tree, which grows wild and in great 
abundance in the dense forests in the northern and 
eastern parts of the province, whither the people 
repair yearly in numerous gangs to collect it. The 
difl&culties of penetrating the woods to reach the 
yerbales, as they are called, are considerable, but 
they are amply repaid by the certain profits of the 
adventure. The whole process of preparing and 
packing it for market is performed on the spot. 
The tender branches and twigs, being selected, are 
roasted quickly over a fire till the leaves are crisp ; 
and then, after being partially crushed or pounded, 
are rammed into hide bags, called serrons, containing 
200 lbs. each, which, when sown up, are ready for 
sale. 

The Jesuits cultivated the plant, of which there 
are three species, in their Missions ; and by atten- 
tion produced a better quality of tea, called caa- 
mini, than that from the wild plant collected in the 
woods. 

From the practice of reducing the leaf nearly to 
dust probably originated the general custom in South 
America of sucking the infusion when made through 
a tube, at one end of which is a strainer, which pre- 
vents the small particles of the tea-leaves from get- 
ting into the mouth : it is usually made very strong, 

Q 2 



PARAGUAY 

very hot, and very sweet with sugar ; its properties 
seem to be much the same as those of the China tea. 
The Spaniards learned to use it from the Guarani 
Indians. 

When the Viceroy's power was overthrown in 
1810, the province of Paraguay refused to acknow- 
ledge the central government set up at Buenos Ayres 
to succeed him, and an army was in consequence sent 
to reduce it to obedience ; but the Paraguay troops 
defeated the Buenos Ayrean general, Belgrano, who 
was glad to capitulate, and be permitted to return 
whence he came. Emboldened by this success, 
which gave them an idea of their own consequence 
beyond any they had before entertained, they pro- 
ceeded at once to assert their absolute independence, 
not only of Buenos Ayres, but of the mother country, 
and to declare Paraguay a free and sovereign state, 
a step beyond any at that time contemplated, per- 
haps even by the rulers of Buenos Ayres themselves, 
who, though self-elected^ continued to act in the 
King's name up to 1816, the date of their declara- 
tion of independence at Tucuman. 

This proclamation of the independence of Para- 
guay was followed in the first instance by the setting 
up of a triumvirate government, of which Francia 
was the secretary, and soon became the secret mover 
of the whole machine. A sort of Mephistopheles, he 
was not long ere he set the members of the govern- 
ment by the ears, and by his intrigues brought about 
their resignation. 



DECLARED INDEPENDENT. 229 

Then came the convocation of a general assembly 
of deputies from all the towns and villages of the 
province, to consider what was to be done under 
the circumstances. By these poor ignorant people 
thus dragged from their homes, Francia, a person 
in authority, a lawyer, or learned man, — for the 
terms are synonymous in the language of Para- 
guay, — living like an ascetic, and affecting a sort of 
cabalistical knowledge, was looked upon with a kind 
of reverential awe, as a person of wonderful acquire- 
ments and sagacity, whose opinions were eagerly 
sought to guide them in the weighty matters they 
were called upon to discuss, whilst on his own part 
he was not behindhand in maturing his plans and 
securing his influence. 

When the Congress met he laid before it the fol- 
lowing project for a government, which, as he an- 
ticipated, was regarded as the ne plus ultra of 
wisdom, and was adopted by acclamation (^por accla- 
macioni) . I give the document entire, not only be- 
cause it has never before appeared in English, but 
as the best evidence of the low cunning of the pro- 
jector, and of the extreme simplicity and subser- 
viency of those Avho adopted it, believing all the 
time that they were a free and independent people. 

Plan for a Constitution proposed hy Dr. Francia to 
the General Congress of Paraguay, and adopted 
by acclamation. 

" Article I.— The two citizens Don Fulencio 
Yegros and Don Jose Caspar de Francia shall alone 



230 DR. FRANCIA*S 

constitute the government, with the title of ' Consuls 
of the Republic of Paraguay.' They shall have the 
rank and honours of Brigadier-Generals, and their 
commissions as such shall be signed by the President 
of this Congress. 

'^ Art. II. — They shall wear, as the insignia of 
their Consular dignity, a hat bound with blue, and 
the tri-coloured scarf of the Republic. They shall 
have the like and equal jurisdiction and authority, 
which they shall exercise uniformly and conjointly. 
In consequence, all acts of the Government shall be 
signed by both. 

"Art. III. — ^Their first duty shall be the pre- 
servation, security, and defence of the Republic, 
with all the vigilance^ judgment, and activity re- 
quired under existing circumstances. 

'' Art. IV. — There shall henceforward be no Pre- 
sidency. 

" Art. V. — All the forces of the Province shall 
be under the joint command in chief of the two 
Consuls. 

" Art. VI. — Nevertheless, all the active and effect- 
ive troops of every grade, as well as all the arms and 
ammunition, shall be equally divided, and placed at 
the disposal, half and half, of each Consul, and each 
shall have his own separate barracks and magazines 
under his own command. 

" Art. VII. — There shall be two battalions of 
infantry, each to consist of three or four companies 
for the present, or of more if necessary ; so that each 
Consul shall have his separate battalion, of which he 



CONSTITUTION. 231 

shall be the chief and commandant exclusively : he 
shall also have the command of one of the two com- 
panies of artillery ; Consul Yegros shall command 
the first, and Consul Francia the second ; the latter 
shall form his own battalion, towards which he shall 
be at liberty to take the fifth part of that commanded 
by Consul Yegros. 

"' Art. VIII. — The officers and men of these corps 
shall be approved of by their respective Chiefs, the 
said Consuls ; but all officers' commissions shall be 
signed by both jointly, though they may be proposed 
by their own commanders respectively : in like man- 
ner, if it should be necessary to try them for any 
offence, it shall be before the two Consuls jointly. 

" Art. IX. — The Consuls shall preside over the 
tribunals in turn for four months at a time each, 
with the title of ' Consul in Turn,' and not ' Consul 
Presiding,' lest that designation should give rise to 
mistakes. Consul Francia shall take the first turn, 
and in all cases, when the turn comes round, a notice 
of it, signed by both, shall be inserted in a book, and 
sent to the Cabildo of the city for their information. 

'' Art. X. — A chamber shall be set apart in the 
Government House for the Tribunal of the Consuls : 
it shall be open during the hours of office, and its 
forms shall be regulated by the Consul in Turn for 
the time being. 

" Art. XI. — The Secretary shall take cognisance 
of such cases on which doubts may arise, and which 
are not hereby provided for. 



232 .M:>T>R, FRANCIA 

*' Art. XII . — It is left to the will and prudence 
of the two Consuls to regulate by common accord all 
that may be requisite for the due despatch of the 
business of the State, in all its branches ; as well as 
to appoint one or, if necessary, two secretaries ; also 
to create a superior tribunal of appeal, to determine, 
according to law, as a Court of Last Resort, such 
cases as it may be necessary to refer to it. 

" Art. XIII. — If either of the two Consuls should 
die or resign, the other shall proceed within a month 
to call together the General Congress of the Pro- 
vince, which shall consist of one thousand Deputies, 
chosen, like the present, by popular election ; and it 
shall be a fundamental, general, perpetual, and in- 
variable law and rule, that henceforward such Gene- 
ral Congress of the Province shall assemble every 
year, convoked in the same manner, and to consist 
of the aforesaid number of one thousand representa- 
tives ; and the day for their meeting shall always 
be on the 1 5th of October : and the necessary con- 
vocation and suinmonses shall be issued in conse- 
quence by the middle of every month of September, 
in order that the Province may duly, and at least 
once a-year, meet as a free and sovereign people, to 
deliberate on what may be most conducive to the 
general ^ood, to improve, if necessary, its govern- 
ment, to provide remedies for abuses, and to take all 
such measures as may be suggested by the wisdom 
of experience. 

" Art. XIV. — These rules shall be observed until 



MADE DICTATOR. 233 

altered by any future Congress, and shall be copied 
into the Book of the Resolutions of Government. 

" Art. XV. — ^The Consuls shall immediately ap- 
pear before the present Sovereign Congress to swear 
to observe faithfully, and to cause to be observed, 
these rules and regulations. The same oath shall 
be also forthwith administered by their order to all 
the officers of the troops, and by the officers to the 
soldiers, whereof a proper record shall be inserted 
in the archives of the Congress ; and whoever shall 
refuse to take the said oath shall be dismissed the 
service, and punished as though he had broken it. 
ii i'iArt. XVI. — The Province adopts the forms, as 
well as the number of Representatives assembled in 
the actual Congress, and the Government shall make 
no change in either one or the other. 

''Done and Signed at Assumption^ 
the I2tk October, 1813." 

■ 'Yt;,^i':,K *ijBii8 ;gnit9s«i,uj:3il|. tot \ub sii- 

Francia, having thus obtained one-half the power 

he aimed at, was not long ere he secured the other. 

When the thousand deputies met, in virtue of the 

13th article of the Constitution, it was intimated to 

them that the substitution of one Governor for a pair 

of Consuls would be a great improvement ; and 

Don Gaspar was, as a matter of course, elected sole 

Dictator of the Republic of Paraguay. 

His nomination in the first instance was for three 

years ; at the expiration of which time he took care 

to have his power confirmed for life. The Deputies 

who passed this act, in their simplicity, returned to 



234 HIS ARBITRARY 

fheir homes exulting in an arrangement whereby 
they were saved all further trouble, whilst the tyrant 
they had set up commenced a reign which, for sys- 
tematic selfishness, cruelty, and unrestrained des- 
potism, is almost unparalleled in the history of any 
country. 

His first object, as may be supposed, was to put 
down all opposition ; and this he did by imprisoning, 
banishing, or putting to death every individual of 
wealth or influence who could in any way interfere 
with him in the exercise of his despotic sway : — his 
spies were in every house, the most trivial expression 
of dissatisfaction was construed into treason, and ere 
long no man dared to speak to his neighbour for 
fear of being denounced : thus he silenced by 
terror all opposition from within ; and, lest any 
should be attempted from without, he proceeded to 
restrict the communication with the adjoining pro- 
vinces, and at last to establish a system of non- 
intercourse which for nearly twenty years he has 
rigorously enforced, and will doubtless continue to 
do so as long as he lives. The only trade, if trade 
it can be called, which of late years has been carried 
on, has been upon his own account, and such as has 
been necessary to further his own policy of habituating 
the lower classes to look to him, and to him only_, for 
the supply of all their wants. His mode of managing 
this business is as singular as all the rest of his pro- 
ceedings. When he wants an assortment of foreign 
goods, a permit is sent over to the adjoining pro- 
vince of Corrientes for a vessel to proceed to the 



GOVERNMENT. 235 

opposite port of Nembucii; on her arrival there, 
the invoice of the cargo is immediately forwarded 
to him at Assumption, from which, after selecting 
such articles as he requires, he orders a quantity of 
yerba-mate to be put on board in payment. There 
is no appeal from his own valuation : no one is 
allowed to go on shore, and the ship is sent back as 
soon as the yerba is delivered : — the article itself is 
in such demand, from his having stopped the trade 
in it, that the people of Corrientes are glad to get it 
upon his own terms. He is the owner of several 
shops, or stores, in Assumption, from which the 
goods are afterwards retailed, by his permission, to 
those who may stand in need of them. 

In the same manner for a short period he allowed 
a peddling traffic to be carried on between the Bra- 
zilian Missions beyond the river Uruguay and the 
port of Ytapua, opposite to Candelaria, but that he 
altogether stopped about ten years ago. 

His revenue chiefly arises from properties con- 
fiscated by his own arbitrary judgments, and from 
tithes in kind upon all articles of produce, the 
right to levy which is yearly sold by the govern- 
ment to the best bidder in each department; the 
contractors generally underlet them to others, and 
they are in consequence rigorously exacted.* The 
principal expenditure is in the maintenance of a 

* A commutation of these tithes for a fixed revenue was agreed 
upon between the church and the municipal government of Assump- 
tion at an early period of the Spanish rule in that country. 



236 ENGLISHMEN RELEASED. 

large militia force, in which every person capable of 
bearing arms is enrolled and called upon to do duty 
in turn. Francia is of course commander-in-chief 
of the army, as he is the head of the cburch, the 
law, and every other branch of the administration. 

When I arrived in the River Plate, in 1824, I 
found that many British subjects had been for severa^ 
years detained in Paraguay by this monster against 
their will ; and it became my duty in consequence to 
make a representation to him upon the subject, and 
to apply for their liberation. This I was fortunate 
enough to obtain, together with the release of many 
other Europeans, whom, that it should not appear 
that he was granting any special favour to the 
English, he allowed at the same time to depart; 
amongst the rest Messrs. Rengger and Longchamps, 
two Swiss gentlemen, who have since published a 
highly-interesting account of their detention, and of 
the state of the country.* 

He made, however, an exception of M. Bompland, 
the w^ell-known companion of Baron Humboldt, 
whom he had some years before caused to be seized 
and carried off by an armed force, sent across the 
Parana for the purpose, whilst engaged in his own 
inoffensive pursuits in the province of Corrientes, 
As there was no accredited French agent at Buenos 
Ayres at the time, I took upon myself to make 

* The Reign of Don Gaspar de Francia in Paraguay, being an ac- 
count of a six years' residence in that Republic, by Messrs. Rengger 
and Longcharaps, translated, 1827. 



DETENTION OF M. BOMPLAND. 



2^ 



another application to Francia, specially in favour of 
an individual in whose fate I could justly say that 
all the scientific world was interested ; and I further 
offered to guarantee the fulfilment of any promise 
M. Bompland might himself choose to make, in case 
of his libeiation, to return at once to Europe. I 
wrote in the same sense to M. Bompland, and en- 
closed my letter, open, to the Dictator, to forward to 
its destination if he approved of it. But, instead of 
doing so, he returned it to me, with a rude inti- 
mation that that must close our correspondence.* 

I believe he was disappointed at finding that I 
could not concur with him in his notion of opening 
i, direct trade between Great Britain and Paraguay, 
on which it appeared he had long set his heart, the 
rather as he expected thereby to be able to show to 
his own subjects his independence of his neighbours, 
and especially of the Buenos Ayreans. 

That so extraordinary a state of things should so 
long have existed is I believe entirely to be ascribed 
to the miserable weakness of the adjoining provinces, 
Avhich, had they been able to make the slightest 
combined effort, might long ago have put an end to 
the tyrannical rule of this crazy old despot. Nature 
will probably do this ere long, when it may be ex- 
pected that Paraguay will once more join the con- 
federation of her sister provinces. 

* M. Bompland has since obtained his liberty, after a detention of 
nine years. 



238 



CHAPTER XIII. 
THE CENTRAL PROVINCES. 

CORDOVA, LA RIOJA^ SANTIAGO, TUCUMAN, CATAMARCA, 
SALTA. 

Cordova. Government. Pastoral Habits of the People, Produc- 
tions. La Rioja. Population, &c. Faraatina Mines. Evils 
arising from the present subdivision of the Provincial Govern- 
ments. Santiago del Estero. The Sandy Desert or Tra- 
versia. Quichua Language. Productions, &c. The Salado 
navigable to the Parana. The Chaco. Mass of native Iron 
found there. Theory of its Meteoric Origin questionable. Ac- 
count of the native Iron from Atacama. Tucuman. Delight- 
ful Climate. Mines — little worked. Richness of the Vegetation. 
Declaration of Independence of the Provinces made there in 
1816. Catamarca. Population, &c. Original Inhabitants — 
their long Wars with the Spaniards. Salta. Divisions, Popu- 
lation, Government, Climate, Rivers. The Vermejo, and its Af- 
fluents from Tarija and Jujuy. Valuable Productions of this 
Province. Labour of the Mataco Indians obtainable, and pre- 
ferable to that of Europeans in such Latitudes. Importance of 
inland Steam Navigation urged. 

In proceeding now to give such information as I 
have been able to collect respecting the state of the 
provinces on the road to Peru, and to the westward 
of it, I shall take them in their geographical order, 
although it may be as well to observe that they 
were not, as may be supposed, originally conquered 
and settled by the discoverers of the Rio de la Plata. 
Those adventurers, following the course of the river 



CONQUERORS OF TUCUMAN. 239 

Paraguay, reduced to subjection the warlike tribes 
they found upon its shores, and, navigating its higher 
branches, after incredible hardships and many va- 
liant deeds, succeeded in opening a communication 
with their countrymen in Peru ; but they made no 
attempt to possess themselves of the vast extent of 
country lying to the westward of them. 

The discovery of those regions was reserved for 
the followers of Almagro, who, after the conquest 
of Peru, marched southward to take possession of 
Chile, in fulfilment of his agreement with Pizarro ; 
and his successors laid claim to them as part of the 
jurisdiction originally allotted to him in virtue of 
that agreement — a pretension which gave rise to 
many contentions amongst the chiefs who first esta- 
blished themselves in those parts ; nor were they 
put an end to until, by the king's authority, these 
settlements, comprising Tucuman, Santiago del Es- 
tero, the towns in the valley of Catamarca, and 
many others since destroyed, were erected into a 
distinct and separate province called Tucuman, from 
the chief of the Calchaqui tribes which inhabited 
them. This was in 1563, some years before the 
existence of Buenos Ayres. Nor was it indeed till 
nearly half a century after De Garay had founded 
his settlement there that they became politically 
connected, and were united under one and the same 
government. 



240 



PROVINCE OF CORDOVA. 

The province of Cordova, after that of Buenos 
Ayres, is the most important of the Union. Accord- 
ing to a census taken in 1822-23, the population 
then amounted to something more than 85,000 
souls, of which from 12,000 to 14,000 lived in the 
city. 

It is ruled by a governor, who is elective by a 
provincial junta occasionally convoked, and whose 
power is almost arbitrary; he has the command of 
all the forces and militia of the province, and has 
the power of reversing, on appeal, all decisions of 
the tribunals. 

It is bounded by the province of Santiago del 
Estero to the north, and Santa Fe to the east, and 
on the western side by the mountain-ranges gene- 
rally known as the Sierra de Cordova. From these 
ranges descend many rivers and streams which irri- 
gate and fertilise the plains below ; amongst which 
may be enumerated the Rio San Miguel, the Tor- 
toral, the Carnero, the Primero, Segundo, Tercero, 
Quarto, and Quinto : of these the Tercero is the only 
one which reaches the Parana ; all the rest are lost 
in the flat intervening plains. It has been ascer- 
tained that very little is requisite to render the Ter- 
cero navigable for boats from the Parana to within 
about thirty leagues of the city, whereby a water 



CORDOVA. 241 

communication might be opened, which would save 
much of the present expensive and tedious land car- 
riage of the productions not only of Cordova, but of 
the provinces of Cuyo, to Buenos Ayres. 

The perpetual irrigation of so many streams gives 
rise to a constant supply of excellent pasturage for 
cattle and sheep, the facility of rearing which may 
in some measure account for the preference evinced 
by the people for pastoral over agricultural pur- 
suits. These habits occasion the country population 
to be much scattered : they congregate but little in 
the towns ; and the principal places after the ca- 
pital. Conception, Ranchos, and Carlotta, are at the 
best but wretched villages. 

In travelling from Buenos Ayres after passing the 
post of Frayle Muerto on the river Tercero, the 
aspect of the country begins to change : it becomes 
undulated, and at last there is an end of the mono- 
tonous scenery of the Pampas, throughout which 
not a tree is to be seen save the solitary Umbu, stand- 
ing like a giant land-mark in the boundless plain. 

The traveller's eye is relieved by the appearance 
of woods and forests which become more dense as 
the Sierra is approached. The trees are for the 
most part varieties of the mimosa family, thickly 
set with thorns ; and so marked is this peculiarity 
in those parts, that I recollect a gentleman from 
Cordova who came to Buenos Ayres whilst I was 
there, expressing something more than common sur- 

R 



242 CITY OF CORDOVA. 

prise at finding that the greatei^rp^i^^jpf the trees^ 
>^hich grew in the gardens about the city, and which 
were probably chiefly of European origin, were apt 
covered with thorns like those of his own province. 

The palm-tree is scattered over the valleys in the 
northern part of the province, and on the road to 
Santiago del Estero; and it is the land of the aloe 
and cactus in every varietyi^^^afv; Iv. .^lyip/imivu a to 

The city which gives its name to the province was 
founded by the conquerors of Tucuman in 1573 ; 
j^ is situated in lat. 31° 26' 14''* long, fi'om Ferro, 
;3J^j|° 36' 45", in a pleasant valley upon the banks of 
th^.,yiver Primero, sheltered from the ; narth and 
south winds, which, in the more exposed parts of 
the province blowing alternately hot and cold, pro- 
duce great and sudden variations in the atmosphere, 
very trying to the constitutions of the inhabitants. 

By the post-road it is^ ]lj72 ^^^e^ues distant: from 
Buenos Ayres. jqhoamifirasaf doh .^iB'idil h^imd' 
/It is related that for many years after its found^ 
ation, the inhabitants were subjected to much incon- 
venience from the occasional overflowings of a lake 
in the neighbouring hills, until an earthquake swal- 
lowed up its waters, and drained M apparently for 
ever. Much damage, howevei*j is still done by the 
mountain-torrents which descend fronl the Sierra in 

*This latitude is the mean of four observations taken by M. de 
Souillac (in 1 784) one of the astronomers attached to the commission 
for determining the boundary. 



JESUITS' COLLEGE. ^43 

the rainy season, and have mad^ it necessary to biiild 
strong Avails to save the city from being occasionally 
inundated. '-ii^^i^-^ i:i*^ai|Uiii^ l^ \tii}iLi2 ^{j.':.moi^ 'n^jfi 
Limestone' and timber feing to be had in the iffi- 
mediate neighbourhood, the houses are generally 
better built than in other towns in the interior. 

Cordova contains many churches, and is the seat 
of a university, at vrhich, in the time of the Old 
Spaniards, most of the better classes from all parts 
of the Vice-Royalty received their education: it was 
under the management of the Jesuits, to whom this 
bity owes much of its importance. It was hei-e they 
had their principal college (the Colegio Maximo) ; 
and they held large possessions in the neighbourhood, 
from whence they derived considerable revenues, 
the greater part of which were spent in the founda- 
tion and embellishment of the churches, and in other 
pious establishments. Here also they had a cele- 
brated library, rich in manuscript records of their 
Missions and labours amongst the Indians, which 
upon their expulsion was sent to Buenos Ayres. 
The printed books formed the nucleus of the present 
public library in that city ; but the greater part of 
the manuscripts, and amongst the rest an unpub- 
lished portion of Father Guevara's History, have 
never since been seen : they were probably, either 
sent to Spain or destroyed by Bucareli, who was 
charged with the expulsion of the Order ; a duty 
which he fulfilled with a harshness and illiberality 
never to be forgotten in a country which owes all it 

r2 



244 CORDOVESE MANNERS. 

possesses in the shape of civilization, to the inde- 
fatigable zeal and enlightened spirit of that com- 
munity^ii v/oii QiU ba& aMiiMii siii to giii^i ^liJ to 

Out of their confiscated property the uni^eri^ty 
of Buenos Ayres was subsequently founded ; and 
being more conveniently situated for the rising ge* 
neration, it has in proportion diminished the import- 
ance of that of Cordova,, which, though still kept up^ 
has dwindled to the scale of a provincial school. 

From the year 1699 Cordova was also the resi- 
dence of a bishop (removed from Tucuman) , but the 
see has been vacant since the first years of the revo- 
lution. 9^nfiibx9 fii sboo'g hdiij:iodiu£iBm amqonu^ 
^i The effects of the preponderating influence of the 
monastic establishments are still visible in the habits 
of the generality of the people ; and though the 
ladies are not all nuns, their manners are a vast deal 
more reserved than those either of the capital or of 
the other principal provincial towns. As aain^ 
stance of this, a fair lady of Buenos Ayres told me 
she had caused no little scandal whilst on a visit to 
some of her Cordova relations, by insisting on danc- 
ing at a ball with a male partner, instead of with 
one of her own sex, an innovation which greatly 
horrified the mamas. Captain Andrews, too, has 
given a lively account of the alarm he unwittingly 
occasioned by a like breach of decorum in offering 
his arm to a young lady on going to dinner. These 
scruples, however, have I believe, since been much 
modified, and I am told that ladies and gentlemen 



^TOANSIT TRADE. 245 

now dttirjce; country-dances together at Cordova, 
much as they do in other parts of the world, in spite 
of the fears of the mamas and the frowns of the 
priests. . ^ _ ■ : uahiiiotiaGD iisiii ■ 

Living is very cheap -and provisions abundant, 
the wants of the people few, and their hospitality 
unbounded ; their kindness, indeed, to strangers, is 
spoken of by all who have been amongst them. aoH^e 

Cordova at present forms a sort of centre of com- 
munication between the Upper Provinces and Buenos 
Ayres. Its own produce, consisting chiefly of hides 
and wool, is all sent to the capital, whence it receives 
European manufactured goods in exchange. Aohul 
sdJf steam navigation were established on the Parana 
between Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe, Cordova, as 
well as the provinces further north, would share in 
its advantages, and would be more easily supplied 
through Santa Fe, by the road which runs nearly in 
a diifiect line between the two cities; whilst the 
shorter line of communication thus opened between 
the provinces of Cuyo and those on the Parana^ 
passing necessarily through Cordova, would fully 
compensate to the people of that place for any 
loss they might sustain in consequence of the transit 
trade from Buenos Ayres to the Upper Provinces 
being turned in another direction. :mm 

The people of Cordova and Santa Fe would also^ 
once more have a joint interest in checking the in- 
roads of the Indians from the Chaco, and by a better 
combination! of their joint means might be enabled 



246 FRONTIElMMILITIA. 

to protect their frontiers more effectually and per- 
haps at less expense than either province is now at 
for the maintainance of the militia which is requisite 
for its separate defence. :i i/j 

Cordova, owing to the miserable weakness of the 
adjoining governments of both Santa Fe and San 
Luis, is obliged at present to support a large armed 
force to protect her frontiers, not only from the 
savages of the Chaco, but from those of the Pampas. 

\ lo Binjj[ iBqioifljim J5 h 

*oiB edi lo ;^oo1t odlU J96I ai 



fi>di iiguodi M^od Q OdS nmh mom o i ^iiijomjs ioa bib 
000«0g ot 000e8l moil niBiflOD ^jsffl soitiyoiq slorfw 

.ifiamh^q^b ai9il;tioH ;^8om odi ai doidw ,oojjjsiA 
bloo 9dt ai bBiquo'jQ ^Jisid^ ^0008 *i;odjB gfiL 

10 0008 sjfjsm Y^jrf^ rbidw rnoii sb*iB^siih lo « 

MobioO oi MsBai lioiifw «9niw 



{olqflrr: 



- PROVINCE OF oia^lMi€»Mqs8 -^i wi 

®i^the west of the provirke of Cordova, across the 
Sierra, lies La Rioj a, formerly a dependency of that 
government, but now dignified with the title of an 
independent province, divided into four depart- 
ments, viz., Arauco, Guandacol, the Llanos, and 
Famatina. It is nominally under the rule of a 
governor and a municipal junta of five members. 
The city from which it takes its name was founded 
in 1591, at the foot of the Sierra de Velasco, a gra- 
nitic range, and is situated, according to a MS. in 
my possession, in latitude 29° 12', though I know 
not upon whose authority. In 1824 the population 
did not amount to more than 3500 souls, though the 
whole province may contain from 18,000 to 20,000. 
Arauco, which is the most northern department, 
contains about 3000, chiefly occupied in the culti- 
vation of vineyards, from which they make 8000 or 
10,000 small barrels annually, of a strong sweet 
wine, which is sent to Cordova and the neighbour- 
ing provinces. 

Guandacol, which lies to the westward, beyond 
the range of Famatina, and along the base of the 
Cordillera of Chile, contains about 1500 inhabitants, 
— chiefly congregated in the towns of Guandacol 
and Vinchina. They are employed in agriculture. 



and, at a prarticular season, in hunting the vicuilas 
in the Gprdillera, the wool of which forms a valuable- 
article of trade :— the flesh is an article of food. 

The Llanos, which lie to the south of La Rioja, 
constitute a rich grazing district, in which about 
20,000 head of cattle ai-e annually bred. The ia-- 
babitants are calculated to be about 6000. iud flasd 

The department of Famatina, of which Chilecit» 
is the principal place, lies to the west of La Rioja;i 
il contains 5000 or 6000 inhabitants, who, like those 
of Arauco, are much engaged in the cultivation of 
their vineyards, from which they make 6000 or 8000^ 
barrels of ; wine yearly. It takes its name from the 
famous mineral range of Famatina, distant from La 
Rioja about thirty leagues : — this range is described 
to extend for fifty leagues ; in the centre is the 
I^eyado, a lofty peak covered with perpetual snow, 
-ynitSigeological formation is chiefly gneiss andclay- 
slate ; but it is specially celebrated for the richnessl 
of its silver ores, which are said to surpass in inf 
trinsic value those of Potosi,— the extreme remote*! 
ness and inclemency of their situation, howeverj 
accessible only by rugged and difficult mountainfl 
paths, has been ^constant bar to their being woricrf 
to any extent, and as yet they may be said toxte: 
only superficially known : nevertheless a mint was 
established at La Rioja, at which some gold and 
silver coins have been struck ; and, in 1824 and 
1825, during the rage for mining speculations A) 
South America, companies were formed for the 



FAMATINA MINES. 249 

working of those of Famatina -.—those schemes, how- 
ever, only ended in disappointment to all concerned 
in themy not from any &earcity, I believe, of the 
precious metals, but from miscalculations and mis- 
management, and an entire ignorance of the political 
state of the country. In such remote parts it has 
been but too sadly proved ih«i#i'iittle^ ^foreigners 
€iiH>scalculat^xMpifi^£any effectual protection either 
for their property or their persons. It is idle to 
talk of contracts or title-deeds where the only real 
law is the will of some petty despot, whose ne- 
cessities or interests, direct or indirect, will always 
overrule all other considerations. That such should 
be the state of La Rioja is not surprising, when 
its geographical position is considered, which cuts 
it off" from almost all intercourse with the more 
civilized parts of the republic. The roads whictf 
lead to it, if roads they ^ catiite^Gklledi^ which are 
ha,rdly passable by mules,' are as bad as they can be, 
whilst the distances by these circuitous paths to the 
neai'est of the other provincial towns are enormous.' 
From La Rioja to Cordova it is 114 leagues, to 
Mendoza 159, and to Buenos Ayres by the nearest 
beaten route 28'^i -To Guasco or Gopiapo, the 
nearest towns in Chile, the length of the route by 
the Cordillera of Guandacol is 130 leagues: — this 
pass is said to be easy of transit, and has been often 
used to convey goods across the Cordillera from 
Chilcy when the communication Avith Buenos Ayres 
has been closed. 



250 : CSmA^M DF LA JaiQJA. J 

gMiThei peopleyc^^ rraight be expected, are in a la- 
mentable state of ignorance. The governor himself, 
in sending me an account of his province, confessed 
that the only school in it was one established in the 
town of La Rioja, where the instruction was en- 
tirely limited to reading and writing, and that, for 
want of support, was often closed. vp^mtfrBB hei)uh 
If the establishment of the present federal system 
be found of any real advantage, or gratifying to the 
ambition of some other provinces, the local situa- 
tion and means of which may induce them to 
look forward with any confidence to improving their 
social condition ; on the other hand I fear it must be 
fatal to those which, like La Rioja, are aecesvsarily 
thrown by it upon resources which are palpably 
inadequate either to ensure them any tolerably effi- 
cient government for the present, or any likelihood 
of an improvement in their condition hereafter. It 
seems to me that the only means of saving them 
from lapsing into a state of semi-barbarism is to 
make them, as before, dependencies of their more 
powerful neighbours : — nor would they alone benefit 
by such an arrangement; a concentration of the 
Republic into half-a-dozen instead of twice the num- 
ber of provincial governments (as was originally 
contemplated when it was divided into provinces 
in 1813 and 1814), would render each in itself 
infinitely more respectable, and better able to main- 
tain its own independence, whilst it would vastly 
facilitate the management of all their national in- 



SUBDIVISION OF PROVINCES. 251 

terests and affairs by the government of Buenos 
Ayresxi iofli97o^ »flT »93nsioii;§i 'io sMa aldajfism 
fi The provinces to the north of Cordova and La 
Rioja originally formed only two governments, ac- 
cording to the division established by the National 
Congress in 1814 :— that of Tucuman, which in- 
cluded Santiago del Estero and Catamarca; and 
that of Salt a with Jujuy, Oran, and Tarija ; but 
these have since sub-divided themselves, and instead 
of two now form five distinct governments, — viz., 
Santiago, Tucuman, Catamarca, Salta, and Tarija, 
^— the latter of which has become united to Bolivia: 
of the others, the first, after leaving Cordova, is 
Santiago del Estero.i ^J. aiiii ^doidm modi jm bsim 
\: ^%^ iiMiin 893iuoa&i aoqis ^i ' 

livrdlhdll rriG lo .^nsar-q - ad;^ *i6i ;tn8mxii6v ^. . 
vtl ibd^ oi JnamsYO'iqail fljs 111 

liidfiJ §al7sa io afij59ai i^Ino sdl Jjsrit sm ol ^m.ms 
ol b! mshBdiBd-lmss lo slala a oiai gnfeqal moil 
mom ibdl lo ' gdfoiitabosqy!) ^oiolsd m ^msdt . "' ' ; 
iiisiisd aitoia \^df bkow 10a—: giuodifgisn lifti 
adt la fibiifi'itoaaaoD a ^ c^iiemagiiBTia nf? d^ 
-taua 0dl 90£w;> lo baaifeai ii^Sob-!e-'lM 
^ibmgh. .) 8lfi9maia?og hmi^ 



sag .2nm.TAwsimM^5^omT^mouAB 

f-mi srfl m Bifds ; asi^A 3omuK 1o toft ol .^h^Qn 

lo iDini -Santiago DEL ESTERor^f^^^^ 

- The 4fetaiice irom tiife city of CordiJtraJ^ ^SS* of 
Santiago del Estero is 110 leagues by the post-road; 

Portezuela is the first station beyond the jurisdic- 
tmn ©f Cordova, shortly after which commences 
what is called the Travesia, a vast sandy zon^ 
thirty to forty leagues in breadth^ for the most 
part covered with a saline efflorescence, and produc- 
ing a salsola, from the ashes of which the inhabi?- 
nts extract so(ia. It borders the Sierra de Cjordova 
tlm liorthj^aiid extends west as far as La Rioja, 
nning southward nearly to San Luis. In thi^ 
id district the sultry heat of the north \ wind^ 
v|^hich is very prevalent iii the summer se|isom ik 
almost insufferable. \ oee-ai \\ \ o^i^i -^s 

I My intelhgent correspondent Dr. Redhead, wh^ 
msHtiived for n^ore than a quarter of a century iri 
tlie upper provinces, and to whom I am indebted 
for some of the most valuable of my information 
respecting themj speaking of its geological appears 
apce, observes in one of his letters how forcibly h^ 
h|Ld been led to conjecture that the southern part of 
the province of Santiago must once have been a sea-j 
coast. " Its sandy hillocks, he says, always reminded 
him of those on j the shores of Flanders:" — certain 
ill is, that throughout the whole extent of this sandj^ 
zone, from Ambargasta to Noria, the level of the 
country becomes very much depressed, and falls very 



BAROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



253 



nearly to that of Buenos Ayres ; thus in the very 
heart of the continent, at a distance of 700 miles 
direct from the sea, we have a considerable tract of 
land hardly elevated above its immediate shores. 
I The following table of barometrical observations, 
tkken by Dr. Redhead, will not only show the va-^ 
nations in the height of the country intervening be^ 
tween Buenos Ayres and Santiago, but also of that 
to the northward, along the high road, as far as 
Tupiza in Peru :— 

B^^ippetrical Qh^erviytiDns, made on the road .from BufSiioS Ayres to Eotosi, 
by Dr. Redhead :■ — ; 



Dlstfti 
from orie" 
ace 



Barometer, 



jSt>^^i8t;aof iD^servidtibn i 



Post 
leagues. 



m 

14 

22 
4 

4 

6 
i4 

24 
40 
100 
30 
.8 

3 

5 

'- ^ ' 
5 



Rio Tercero from) 
Buenos Ayres. j 

Cordova • • 
Sin-Sacate . 
San Pedro 
Durasno 
Piedritas 
Pozo del Tigre 
Portezuela .ISJllilJ 
Ambargasta . y a 
Punta (iel Monte I « "f 
Salinas . • [ ^ 2 

Noria . , J H 
Santiago del Estero . 
Tucuman , . . 
Jujuy , . J. . . fi 

Humaguaca M^pl 
Cueha . 

Abra de Cortaderas 
Colorados ; . . 
Cangre}<iP% i*^>^P 
..Quiaca . . , 

^ 'i3umbre del Cerrol 
^ de Berque . j 
Berque "•' ' i"" " % ~ 
Talina ..».j^,^,_^y,r, t^ 
Tupiza . ' .' ''"'"'. 



Thermo- 
meter. 



28-945 



28-400 


86 


27-990 


75 


26-990 


60 


27-300 


73 


27-500 


72 


27-550 


71 


27-860 


69 


28 875 


67 


29-260 


82 


29 600 


68 


29-400 V. 


:<u26i 


27-pmi 


GSjf^^ 


^d4iV> 


Q^f 


21-200 


54 


19350 


50 


19-625 


32 


19-300 


50 


19-100 


60 


19-975 


54 


20-800 


56 


26 260 


60 



86 



mil 



S08 

Da^iob 



/Ol 



Feb:ir 

20 

Mar. 12 

17 



19 

20 



Feb. 10 

May 31 
30 
29 

28 

27 
26 
25 



^amam 



4 p.m. , 
11 a.m. 

6 a.m. 
9 a.m. 
Noon; 

5 p.m. 
Noon. 
9 a.m. 
4 p.m» 

6 a.m. 
2 p.m. 



4pjnr 

1188(1 1)^ 

8 a.m. 
6 p.m. 
4 p.in,. 

11 a.m. 

4 p.m. 

9 a.m. 
9 a.m. 



ml 






A^o/e.— At Buenos Ayres the mean of the barometer for the month of 
Marcli:, 1822, -was 29'61^-3ga.0T[q©; , 



254 GEOLDGIGAL DBSERVitTIONS. 

flA tfe^ ^irpfer parte ilof the Sierra de Cordova 
granite everywhere breaks through the surface, and 
innumerable fragments of it may be traced in the 
descent to the Travesia, whilst beyond that sandy 
zone there is not a vestige of it throughout the rest 
of the road to Potosi, the formation the whole way 
being of blue argillaceous schist and slate, with 
occasional strata of limestone and red sandstone. 
In the neighbourhood of Potosi, however, and on 
the tops of some of the highest mountains in its 
vicinity, Helms tells us that he fell in with a pretty 
thick stratum of granite pebbles rounded by the 
action of ivatei*. How, he says, could these masses 
of granite have been deposited here? Have they 
been rolled hither by a general deluge, or by some 
later partial revolution of nature ? His astonish- 
ment would have been infinitely greater had he 
known that marine shells are to be found on the 
lofty mountain of Chorolque (about twelve leagues 
north-west from Tupiza, between Salta and Potosi), 
the summit of which has been determined by Dr. 
Redheiid, ta ^^ ,16,&30 feet .aboxe. the level ,o£the 
sea. -.\ri >nf ^flj %il nj^rf rfofrfTr '*3"^t ,of(ffi*i^f)ir;rTOo' 3 \c 
The word Chorolque is corrupted from Churu- 
colque, signifying in the Quichua tongue that the 
mountain contains silver and shells. The Spaniards, 
however, little suspected that the latter were to be 
found there, till, in 1826, an enterprising French- 
man ascended the mountain and brought down 
specimens which established beyond doubt the fact. 



.mo {QUICHUA LANGUAGE. 255 

ir/^A fui'ther study of that language might lead the 
scientific inquirer to many an important discovery. 
The disposition of the Peruvians for observation is 
well known, and their nomenclature of places is 
generally expressive more or less either of the 
nature of the soil, or some peculiarity attached to it : 
thus a person well versed in Quichua is Ibeforehand 
aware of what he is to see. Peutoesij for instance, 
difficult to be properly pronounced by an European, 
and corrupted into Potosi, signifies, " It is said to 
have burst forth :'" such must have been their tra- 
dition, which the very appearance of this singular 
cone, standing aloiie and distinct from the system of 
mountains which surrounds it, and the hot springs 
in its vicinity, would seem to corroborate* y^^^*^ ny^u, 
^ It is in the province of Santiago that the QuicWiia 
is first met with. The Jesuits reduced it to a written 
language, and published a grammar and dictionary 
of it in Peru.f^ , todfi) supIo'ioiiQ lo nxii jnuoni ^floi 
The city of Santiago is a miserable ill-built place, 
containing not more than 4000 souls. It is situated 
in lat. 27° 47", according to Azara, upon the banks 
of a considerable river which rises in the territory of 
Tucuman, and running south through this province 
is finally lost, under the name of the Rio Dulce, in 
the great lakes called the Porongos, to the west of 
Santa Fe. The whole population of the province 
is estimated to be about 50,000 ; the greater part of 
which is much scattered in small villages built along 
the courses of this river and of the Salado, which 



256 BEES-WAX AND HONEY. 

runs parallel to it, and separates the province on 
that side from the gran-ehaco, or desert, the low 
lands along their banks being better suited for the 
pasturage of cattle and for cultivation than the other 
parts of the province. The soil there is vrell adapted 
to the growth of wheat, which is said to yield eighty 
for one. 

In most parts of the province the cactus may be 
seen ' growing to an unusual size, and the cochineal 
gathered from it used to form one of the most 
valuable productions of this part of the country : 
from 8000 to 10,000 lbs. of it were annually sent 
to Chile and Peru. Large quantities of wild bees- 
wax and honey were also collected in the woods 
and sent to the other provinces, in which they were 
always in demand ; but the civil dissensions which 
have of late years been so frequent in these provinces 
have checked the industry of the people, who have 
almost entirely abandoned their old pursuits, and 
given up their yearly gatherings of these once valued 
productions. This is the more to be regretted as 
they are said to be naturally an enterprising and 
intelligent race, less given to habitual indolence 
than some of the other inhabitants of these latitudes. 
The women manufacture ponchos and coarse saddle- 
cloths, or blankets, which are sold in great numbers 
to the people of Tucuman and Salta. 

To the eastward of the river Salado lies the vast 
region commonly called the Gran-chaco, or desert, 
which extends to the Parana, and reaches north as 



NATIVE IRON FROM THE CHACO. 257 

far as the province of Chiquitos, solely inhabited 
by Indians of various tribes, who, safe in their own 
forests and jungles, have there found a refuge from 
Spanish domination and persecution. It is through 
this territory that the rivers Pilcomayo and Vermejo 
wind their tortuous courses to the Parana from the 
most remote parts of the interior of the Upper 
Provinces. _ ^ ti.^^ 

Some way beyond the Satado, about seventy 
leagues east from Santiago (in lat. 27° 28''), was 
found that very remarkable specimen of native iron 
which I sent to this country some years ago, and 
which is now deposited in the British Museum. Its 
existence was first made known by some of the 
people of Santiago, who had passed through that 
part of the country in their journeys to the forests 
beyond to collect honey ; and their reports, which 
were transmitted to Buenos Ayres, induced the! 
Viceroy, in 1783, to send Don Reuben de Cells, an 
officer in the King's service, to examine it. His 
report upon it was published in the Philosophical 
Transactions of the Royal Society of London for 
1788, and excited much speculation at the time. 

As in those times the working of iron was for- 
bidden in South America, after sundry specimens 
of it were forwarded to Lima, to Buenos Ayres, and 
to Spain, the remainder lay neglected for many years 
in its original site. 

In the beginning of the struggle for independence, 
however, when the Spanish ships of war blockaded 



258 NATIVE IRON FROM THE CHACO. 

Buenos Ayres, iron, amongst other necessaries, be- 
coming extremely scarce, the people recollected De 
Celis's account, with the reports of the Indians, that 
in the same parts there were extensive veins of the 
same mineral ; and at a great expense the mass in 
question was sent for and brought to Buenos Ayres. 
By the time it got there the blockade was over ; and 
as it was evidently much easier to procure iron from 
Europe than by a cart-carriage of 1000 miles from 
the uninhabited wilds of the Chaco, no further 
trouble was taken to determine whether or not the 
Indian reports of its being procurable in larger 
quantities were true or not. By way of experiment 
a pair of pistols were manufactured from it, which 
were sent as a present to the President of the 
United States, and what remained was placed at 
my disposal by the Minister of Buenos Ayres on the 
occasion of my signing the treaty with him in 1 825, 
which recognised on the part of Great Britain the 
political independence of his country. I sent it to 
Sir Humphrey Davy to be placed in the British Mu- 
seum, hoping that he would himself have analysed 
it, and given his opinion respecting its supposed 
meteoric origin. The analysis I believe was never 
made, owing to his death, which occurred very 
shortly after the arrival of the iron in this country. 

It seems, however, to have been assumed here that 
this iron, as a matter of course, is meteoric, because 
it contains those admixtures of nickel and cobalt 
which accompany other known meteoric productions. 



ATACAMA IRON. 259 

It appears to me that the hypothesis is not very 
satisfactorily or conclusively made out. 

The mass I sent home weighs about 1400 pounds, 
and, making allowance for what may have been 
taken from it at Buenos Ayres, may probably when 
it arrived there have been not much less than a ton 
weight. Now De Celis estimates the mass he ex- 
amined to have been about fifteen tons weight, and 
of much larger dimensions : either this therefore is 
only a fragment of what he particularly described, 
or it is another which has been found in the same 
part of the country, and if so, is corroborative of the 
Indian accounts of there being more in the vicinity. 
This was the opinion of Dr. Redhead, who, in writing 
to me on the subject, says, "The native iron found 
in Santiago is not a single mass, as has been said ; 
there are several, and the most recent accounts 
describe them as huge trunks with deep roots (I use 
the expression of the natives), supposed to commu- 
nicate with each other." * 

Dr. Redhead's observation was caused by a dis- 
cussion which arose here upon some other specimens 
of native iron, which he had forwarded to me, from 
the desert of Atacama, in Peru, and which were 
described by the late Mr. Allan in the Transactions 
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1828. They 

* Since this was written I have met with a gentleman who had 
seen the original drawings of three masses, with their respective 
measurements ; which drawings, he understood, were made by the 
persons sent in quest of this iron by the government of Buenos Ayres 
when my specimen was brought down. 

s2 



260 ATACAMA IRON. 

were analysed by Dr. Turner, who found them to 

contain — 

Iron , . 93 -4 

Nickel . . 6 -618 

Cobalt . . -535 






iObJ lij JLiii'f^ lOi jy^fiy Jo;:uii4jJt:o ^u^=^i. yii iini 



a result which he considered decisive concernino- 
their origin, because, he says, it differs from any 
compound hitherto described in the earth, and cor- 
responds exactly both in appearance and composition 
with other meteoric iron. "'^ -.^^ - r.T. , .,.;.:? i 

But these opinions differ entirely from the belief 
of those who procured the specimens.J^' i^^^ :. 

That iron is found scattered in large quantities 
over a plain at the foot of a mountain a little to the 
south-west of a small Indian village called Toconao, 
ten leagues from San Pedro, the capital of Atacama, 
and about eighty from Cobija, on the coast. The 
tradition there is, that the fragments have been 
thrown out by some volcanic explosion from the 
side of the neighbouring mountain, in which the 
people of Toconao say there is a large veta of pure 
iron. The Indian who collected the specimens which 
I sent to this country was employed to catear, or 
search for mines ; and the nature of his occupation 
rendered it requisite for him to be particular in his 
observations : his account was, that " they were 
taken from a heap of the same nature, estimated at 
about three hundred-weight, and that they existed 



ATACAMA IRON. 261 

at the mouth of a veta, or vein of solid iron, situated 
at the foot of a mountain; he called them ^ rev en- 
tazonesj or explosions from the mine, or veta. He 
had been charged to bring a piece of the veta itself, 
and some of the rock in Avhicli it is embedded, but 
this he said he could not effect for want of tools ; he 
therefore contented himself with picking up some of 
the pieces that were at the foot of the hill, where 
the mouth of the vein opens." 

Dr. Redhead says, that in giving him this account 
the man endeavoured to give him also some idea of 
the direction of the vein in the mountain. 

Further inquiries were subsequently made, the 
result of which corroborated his testimony. The 
alcalde of Toconao, who had been at the place, 
stated that the fragments had issued from a cavity 
of about fifteen feet diameter, which, from the na- 
ture of the soil, was filling up. This is sandy, and 
for three leagues round there is neither wood nor 
water nor pasture of any kind. Several persons 
in San Pedro, and amongst others one named Gon 
zales, who had likewise seen the cavity, gave a 
similar account. 

The Atacama iron is certainly remarkably similar 
to the specimen of that met with by Pallas in Siberia, 
which is to be seen in the British Museum, but what 
proof is there of that being meteoric ? 

The Santiago iron differs from them both in ap- 
pearance. The Atacama and Siberian specimens 
are full of cavities, looking like large sponges or 



262 ITS METEORIC 

scoriae. That from Santiago, on the contrary, is 
more like a solid lump of well-kneaded dough. 

So long as such specimens were supposed to be of 
very rare occurrence, and differing as they do from 
the character of all other known minerals, it was not 
extraordinary that they should have been ascribed to 
an extraneous origin ; but now that further dis^ 
coveries have proved their existence in all parts of 
the world, and that enormous masses of similar iron 
have been met with in the northern parts of America, 
in Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Brazil,* and the pro- 
vinces of La Plata, to speak of that continent alone, 
I think we may begin to doubt whether they may 
not be bond fide productions of our own planet, 
instead of bringing them from the moon, or else- 
where. On this I shall only quote another passage 

* Luccock, in his Travels in Brazil, speaks of a very singular 
metallic formation which he met with in the province of Minas 
Geraes, not far from Villarica. He says (page 490), " A hill on our 
left now presented a wonderful object ; it was one entire mass of iron, 
so perfectly free from any mixture of common soil as to produce no 
vegetation whatever, but was covered with a complete coating of rust 
or oxide of iron. The hill is so lofty and steep that its top was not 
accessible; but from its more elevated parts nodules of corroded 
metal had rolled down, and greatly embarrassed the road: at the 
foot of the mountain the soil is red clay mixed with ponderous brown 
dust. As we advanced the metal seemed to become less pure, until, 
after an extent of two leagues and a-half, it altogether vanished, and 
was succeeded by the common clayey land, &c. I had often heard 
of this immense mass of metal, but none of the reports had preseijted 
any adequate picture of it to the imagination. The very core of the 
hill, as far as we could judge, appeared to consist of vast blocks of 
iron, in tables ; and it is so free from alloy as to produce when smelted 
ninety -five per cent, of pure metal." 



ORIGIN QUESTIONABLE. 263 

from the letters of my excellent correspondent, who 
took the trouble to institute the inquiries for me as to 
the origin of the specimens from Atacama. '' Time," 
he says^ '' may perhaps justify the tradition or 
opinion of the Indians relative to the origin of this 
iron ; nor do I know why we should refuse to Nature 
the power of reducing in her laboratory a metal so 
easily separated from its combinations by the efforts 
of man." 



el6Vli8 tfelo^ lo 8310 ^HfiJiffO bas >g911J8iJ9lt ij3*isnfni^ 

.:'^ ^''""PROVINCE OF TUCUMAN. "^f^ 

1^ Forty leagues '^(post distance) beyOfid Santiago 
del Estero is situated the city of San Miguel de 
Tucuman. It stands (in lat. 27° IC) on an elevated 
plain,:|b|^(ai position from which the prospect on 
every side is delightful ; indeed all accounts agree 
iin describing it as the best situated tovrn in the 
republic. The climate, though hot, is dry and salu- 
brious ; and Nature has been so prodigal of her 
choicest gifts, that the province of Tucuman well 
merits its appellation of the garden of the United 
^.provinces. The population amounts to about 
40,000 souls^,o£^lu|5h JCPi orJQjM.r^ .ifk 

^ eft 

^the city. ■• '"'-, .;.::.■. ...-...' ..n l^.J- ,^, ,? .,.■.-....,']' 

Y After leaving the travesia of Santiago, the road 
ascends a slightly inclined plane the whole way to 
Tucuman, the jurisdiction of which commences after 
crossing the river Santiago, there called the Rio 
Hondo, or deep river, which separates the two pro- 
vinces, and is formed by the confluence of many 
streams which rise in the mountains to the west. 
To the eastward the Salado continues to be the 
general boundary-line separating it from the Chaco: 
to the north the river Tala divides it from the ter- 
ritory of Salta ; and to the west and south-west the 
lofty mountains of Aconquija separate it from Cata- 
''marca. The highest peak of this range is covered 
with perpetual snow, and is said to be above 15,000 



MINES OF TUCUMAN. 265 

feet above the level of the sea. It abounds in 
mineral treasures, and contains ores of gold, silver, 
copper, and lead ; but the toil and difficulty at- 
tendant upon mining operations in those parts of 
the sierra vi'here they are to be found have caused 
them to be much neglected, and the mining, if 
mining it can be called, is now confined to a few 
wretched people scattered amongst the hills, who 
occasionally collect small quantities of silver, which 
they bring down to the city for sale. I have had 
some of the specimens of silver so collected, which 
are singularly rich and beautiful. 

The mita, and other oppressive enactments have 
well nigh destroyed the unfortunate race whose 
forced labour brought to light the mineral wealth 
of these regions. The mamelucho, as the gaucho of 
Tucuman is called, the horseman of the plains, with 
the help of his wife, who makes the greater part of 
his clothing, has almost everything he wants about 
'Mm. He knows not, and therefore needs not, those 
>feomforts which become wants in less genial climes, 
and where civilization is more advanced. Free as 
the air he breathes, he gallops over boundless plains 
unfettered by the slightest restraint upon his own 
inclinations. He has no temptation to quit such a 
life for the fatigues and dangers of an occupation 
which he considers as degrading,* to bury him- 

* As mining labour was imposed as an obligation upon the Indians 
by the conquerors, so it came to be looked upon as the occupation of 
a caste, and of a caste looked down upon by all who boasted of the 
^slightest admixture of European blood in their veins. 



266 RICH VEGETATION. 

self under ground, and to seek by the sweat of his 
hrow treasures of which he does not stand in need. 
His cattle are the finest in the republic; and the 
least possible cultivation and labour is sure to yield 
in return not only the necessaries, but wliat in his^ 
opinion are the luxuries of life. -?i fft*"'To?'?#^ f^rro 

Nothing can be more luxuriant than the vegeta- 
tion in this province ; whilst the plains yield corn 
and maize, and rice and tobacco, in the greatest 
abundance, the base and slopes of the mountain 
ranges in the west are covered with noble trees in 
every variety, interspersed witli innumerable shrubs, 
and hung with tlie most beautiful parasitical plants. 
Extensive groves also of aroma and orange-trees 
produce a fragrance which adds to the delights of 
this favoured region. The sugar-cane grows natu- 
rally in the low lands, and might be turned to 
valuable account; the demand for it, however_, at 
present, is not sufficient to induce the country people 
to attend to it. Not so with the tobacco-plant, which 
they cultivate and find a ready sale for in all the 
adjoining provinces. The people are a well-disposed 
hardy race, proud of their beautiful country, and 
always ready to take up arms in defence of La 
Patria, 

It was at Tucuman, in 1816, that a Congress of 
Deputies from the several provinces solemnly de- 
clared their independency and separation from Spain. 
From 1810 to that period the ruling authorities set 
up had been avowedly merely provisional, and all 
their acts had been in the King's name, the people 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 267 

vainly looking forward to the King's restoration for 
a redress of their grievances. It is useless now to 
say that if the Spanish government had treated them 
with kindness and conciliatory measm*es, they would 
have found the colonies abounding in the same loyal 
and affectionate feelings for the mother country of 
which in other times they had repeatedly given such 
striking proofs. 3iiivut«^ 

The King was otherwise advised ; and the natural 
consequence ensued, that the South Americans, w^ho 
had acquired a knowledge of their own strength and 
importance, simultaneously with the conviction that 
they had nothing to hope, and all to fear, from a 
return to the rule of the mother country, declared 
themselves the arbiters of their own destinies. 



mmom 
■iDiftua ton a£ ^^.- 



ui v^'-i ^ilfinB: SIB floiffw lo 8i9;^6W ^..v, , ^^,,^ ^a^^^^^ 
.ogisitoB lo sofiivoiq edi lo gniefq '^biiBa wof silt 
nifiJiso ^n .sfaosq aril bnij ^^'ilfug ai stemilD erfT 
.s-im^ PROVINCE OF CATAMARCA.gaogfisg 

Catamarca, divided from Tucuman by the sierras 
of Aconquija, is one of those subordinate provinces 
which, like Rioja, owes its independence rather to its 
insignificance and secluded situation than to any 
pretensions which the people can have to govern 
themselves ; properly it should be a dependency of 
the government of Tucuman, to which the Congress 
annexed it in 1814. ^ --^- -^^ V H^-^oji»u. 

When I applied to 'me^&^^rn& for ^oiii6 general 
statistical information as to the extent and resources 
of his province, he fairly confessed his own ignorance 
and utter inability to answer my queries ; much less 
was it possible to obtain any satisfactory topogra- 
phical data. . - ' 

The inhabitants of tHe province^ are 'esfimated af 
30,000 to 35,000, of which about 4000 reside in 
Catamarca. The valley so called, and in which the 
greater part of this population is settled, runs front 
north-west to south-east, extending from the confines 
of Atacama to those of Rioja. On the eastern side 
it is separated from Tucuman first by the sierras of 
Ancasti and Ambato, and more to the north by the 
lofty chain of Aconquija : it is watered by a river 
which holds its course through it (said to have been 
once a much more considerable stream than at the 



CATAMARCA 269 

present day), the waters of which are finally lost in 
the low sandy plains of the province of Santiago. 

The climate is sultry, and the people, at certain 
seasons, are very subject to intermittent fevers. 
They produce corn and cattle enough for their own 
subsistence, and supply the adjoining provinces 
largely with their cotton, the quality of that of Ca- 
tamarca being in higher repute than their own, for 
their domestic manufactures : considerable quantities 
of red pepper are also sent ^from thenee 4>o Buenos 
Ayres. - ■ -,.,,..,... ,.,.;..^'t^ i.. .,.-,,..,,.;.-, ...... 

Catamarca, by the usual track, is about sixty 
leagues distant, south-west, from Tucuman*.,rlf^ a 
MS. by Dean Funes, in my possession, he places it 
in south latitude 28° 12^ The first Spanish settle- 
ment in this part of the country was formed by Juan 
Perez de Zurita, in the year 1558. He named it 
New England, and the principal town London, in 
celebration of the nuptials of his sovereign King 
Philip with our Mary. From thence, however, the; 
Spaniards were shortly after expelled by the native 
Indians, and, removing to the valley of Conando, 
founded the town of Villagran. That district was 
subsequently abandoned from the same cause, — the 
continual hostility of the natives ; and the population 
was finally settled in the valley of Catamarca. 

The Calchaquis, who originally occupied those 
parts, were a warlike race, whose dominion extended 
from the confines of Peru over all the country lying 
between the ranges of the Cordillera on the west 



270 THE CALCHAQUIS 

and those of Aeon qui] a on the east. They derived 
their name from the valley of Calchaqui, which, in 
the Quichua language is strongly significant of the 
fertility of the soil ; and for a long period they 
defended themselves against the Spaniards with an 
ohstinate bravery, unequalled perhaps in any other 
part of South America, excepting Araucania. The 
history of those parts for the first century and a half, 
indeed, is little more than an enumeration of their 
bloody wars with the Spaniards, in which the latter 
were often defeated with serious loss, their towns 
besieged and destroyed, and they themselves obliged 
to fly before the brave defenders of the soil, whom 
they drove to desperation by their wanton cruelties 
and oppressive treatment. Amongst other instances 
of the outrageous and overbearing conduct of the 
conquerors which are recorded, one may serve as a 
sample, which Funes relates of Don Philip Albor- 
nos, who, being named Governor of Tucuman, some 
of the Caciques of the Calchaquis, at the time on 
good terms with the Spaniards, repaired to Tu- 
cuman to tender to him their customary tribute 
upon his appointment. Upon their arrival, instead 
of the welcome they expected, he wantonly ordered 
them to be publicly flogged, to have their heads 
shaved, and so to be sent back whence they came. 
The Calchaquis swore to be avenged : they secretly 
sent forth emissaries to rouse all the people of 
their tribes, especially those of Andalgala, of Fa- 
matina, of Copoyan, and Guandacol, who were 



FINALLY CONQUERED. 271 

known to be smarting under the yoke of their new 
task-masters, for that part of the country was nomi- 
nally reduced to subjection by the Spaniards; and 
then, with an overwhehning force, at one and the 
same time, fell upon Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman, Lon- 
don, and La Rioja, carrying everywhere desolation, 
and sparing not man, woman, nor child. Never were 
the Spaniards in those parts reduced to such shifts ; 
in vain they endeavoured to make peace, the Indians 
would listen to no terms, and this' war raged for ten 
years, with great loss to the Spaniards, and the utter 
annihilation of many of their settlements. Nor was 
it till a large force could be spared from Peru that 
this formidable insurrection was put down. 

The Spaniards, once masters again, retaliated as 
usual. Many tribes were exterminated ; others ca- 
pitulated with their conquerors to abandon altogether 
their native valleys, and were removed to a distance ; 
amongst others a people called the Quilmes, inhabit- 
ing a part of the valley of Calchaqui, being reduced 
to about 200 families, after a long resistance, were 
sen4: to Buenos Ayres, where the Governor settled 
them a short distance from the city, at the place 
which still bears their name. 

The labours of the Jesuits, however, were event- 
ually more successful than all the military forces 
which were sent against the Calchaquis. The in- 
defatigable missionaries reduced one tribe after 
another to a state of comparative civilization, and 
eventually removed the greater part of them from 



272 THE CALCHAQUTS. 

their native soil to form the nucleus of the Christian 
settlements which they were anxious to establish 
upon their own plan on the shores of the Vermejo, 
amongst the Indians of the Chaco. There they soon 
lost all importance, and the hostilities of other In- 
dian n^,tions, and a dreadful epidemic which broke 
out amongst them, in the year 1718, finally put an 
end to the existence of a gallant people, who had 
not only signalized their name by their successful 
wars against the Spaniards, but who, in times long 
before, had maintained their independence in spite 
of all the efforts of the dynasty of the Incas of 
Peru to reduce them to subjection. 



273 nW 



SALTA 

is the frontier province of the republic to the north ;' ^ 
and follows in geographical succession those of Tu- 
cuman and Catamarca, which bound it to the south 
and west. The river Vermejo and its tributary, 
the river of Tarija, constitute its limits to the east. 
It is divided into the four departments of Salta, 
Jujuy, Oran, and Tarija; the latter of vrhich has ^ 
been occupied by the Bolivians, apparently with a 
determination to maintain possession of it. Deduct- 
ing the population of that department, the rest of 
the territory of Salta is_estimated to contain nearly 
60,000 souls. The city of Salta has between 8000 
and 9000 inhabitants.* It was founded in 1582, by 
Don Philip de Lerma, Governor of Tucuman, with 
a view to secure the communication between that 
province and Peru from being cut off by the hostile 
Indians. Its latitude is said to be 24° 30'. Upon 
the whole it has a neat appearance, and boasts of 
its cathedral and many churches. It is, however, 
badly situated in the bottom of a valley, through 
which flow the rivers Arias and Silleta, the latter of 
which has of late years abandoned its ancient bed, 
and seems to threaten at no distant period to burst 
over the low marshy grounds upon which the city 
stands. Shut in by the mountain ranges in the 
neighbourhood, the atmosphere is at certain seasons 

T 



274 GOVERNMENT OF SALT A. 

charged with miasma, giving rise to intermittent 
fevers and agues, which are very general at those 
periods amongst the inhabitants. 

The form of government in this province, as in all 
the rest, is based upon the example of that of Buenos 
Ayres ; consisting of a popular assembly, which has 
the power of electing the Governor. But though 
democratic in theory, it is far otherwise in practice : 
the lower orders have not the smallest notion of the 
real meaning of a representative form of govern- 
ment, and bow with submission to the dictates of a 
patriarchal coterie of influential families, which, 
alternately electing and elected, arrange the govern- 
ment amongst themselves very much as suits their 
own convenience and interests. If any appeal to 
the people is ever made, it is generally from the 
necessity of supporting by a demonstration of brute 
force the pretensions of some particular candidate 

for power. Tey^-kvcto') l^o sboffi ladto yPh 

Such are these governments in the infancy of 
society. One may serve as a sample of the rest, 
although local circumstances may have given rise 
to slight shades of difference in their appearance. 
Salta, as a frontier province, during the struggle 
for independence, was much exposed to the vicissi- 
tudes of the war ; but this very circumstance roused 
the energies of the people, and excited in them a 
spirit of improvement which has placed them in 
advance of most of the Upper Provinces. The 
establishment of a printing-press, from which occa- 



CLIMATE. 275 

sionally a newspaper is produced, and of schools, 
in which reading, writing, and the first rules of 
arithmetic are taught, are great steps compared 
with the state of things under the old regime. The 
clergy, too, either from conviction, or the force of 
circumstances, are daily becoming more tolerant, 
and opinions which in old times it would have been 
heresy to think of, are now as freely discussed as at 
Buenos Ayres, where religious toleration has become 
the law of the land. 

From Buenos Ay res, Salta is distant 414 leagues, 
by the post road, and so far the journey may be 
gone the whole way in a four-wheel carriage ; 
but beyond Salta this is no longer possible, and the 
traveller must mount his mule to traverse the re- 
gions of the Cordillera, w4iich there may be said to 
begin in earnest, and the rugged and precipitous 
passes through which are quite impracticable by 
any other mode of conveyance. 

The Saltenos boast that within tbeir own territory 
they possess every climate, from extreme heat to the 
most intense cold ; and, consequently, that they can 
rear almost every production of nature ; for although 
directly under the tropic, the mountain ranges rise 
in some places to the height of perpetual snow, coun- 
teracting the sun's influence more or less according 
to the elevation. Thus whilst in all the department 
of Oran, in the east of the province, the tropical sun 
has its full influence, under the same latitude in the 
Vilest, in the mountain districts of Rosario and Rin- 

T 2 



2*76 TRIBUTARIES OF THE 

conada, the cold is intense., a In, ; the intermediate 
valleys the climate is temperate and agreeable. It 
is in these valleys that the population is chiefly 
located: they are for the most part highly fertile^ 
being watered by many small rivers and streams, 
which, running eastward from the mountainous 
districts, fall into the Salado and Vermejo, which 
have already been described as the principal aque- 
ducts of these Upper Provinces. Indeed it is in 
this province that both these noble rivers may be 
said to have their origin, of which I shall venture 
to give the following account, chiefly from data pub- 
lished by Colonel Arenales, son of the late Governor, 
of Salta, and now at the head of the topographical 
department of Buenos Ayres. , i-iaiiw 

As a general observation it may be stated that 
the tributaries of the Salado all run south, whilst 
those of the Vermejo will be found to the north, ..^ 
the city of Salta, as may be seen on reference to the 
map. 

The sources of the Salado may be traced to 
the snowy ranges of Acay, where the river Cachi 
rises, about fifty leagues* journey westward of Salta, 
running nearly due south, for more than thirty 
leagues, through the valleys, successively named 
Cachi, Calchaqui, Siclantas, and San Carlos ; during 
this course it is joined by three smaller rivers from 
the west. Six or seven leagues from San Carlos, 
the river Santa Maria falls into it from the south. 
This river rises in the province of Catamarca, forty^ 



RIVER SALADO. 277 

leagues off, running from south to north with little 
variation. The road from Salta to Catamarca and 
La Rioja follows its course. At the junction of the 
Santa Maria the Cachi changes its direction from 
south-east to north-east, and takes the name of 
Guachipas, from the town so called, by which it 
afterwards passes. A little beyond that place the 
Silleta falls into it, about sixteen leagues to the south 
of Salta. This river rises near the lake del Toro, 
to the north-west of Salta, and is augmented by the 
Arias, from that city, and by two or three other 
minor streams. Thence the Guachipas turns again 
south, and, ten leagues below its junction with the 
Silleta, crosses the high road from Buenos Ayres, 
where it is called " El Pasage." In the summer 
season, when the waters are low, its breadth may 
be here about 100 yards, and not being then more 
than three or four feet deep, it may be safely forded ; 
but at other seasons when the waters rise, it becomes 
a very wide and formidable river, the passage of 
which is rendered extremely dangerous, even to 
those best acquainted with it, not only from its 
increased depth and rapidity, but from the many 
large boulders and trunks of trees which are hur- 
ried down by the stream with irresistible violence, 
and which carry everything before them. 

At those times couriers occasionally pas^it swim-' 
ming, or holding by the tails of their horses, which 
they drive before them. All carriage intercourse is 
for the time impossible, and the ordinary traffic 



278 TRIBUTARIES OF THE SALADO. 

between Salta and the lower provinces is thei'efore 
as matter of course suspended during the rainy 
season. To obviate so serious an inconvenience, in 
the time of the Old Spaniards, a survey was made 
of this part of the river, and a plan was proposed to 
the government for throwing a bridge over a rocky 
pass, which, if executed, would have enabled carts 
as well as passengers to cross it high and dry at 
any season. The materials were at hand, and the 
estimate of the whole expense so small that it was 
difficult to find an objection to it ; on the contrary, 
it was unanimously approved; but, as nothing is 
done in a hurry in these countries, it was, like many 
other most notable projects, postponed, " hasta mejor 
oportunidadj' till better times, which, unfortunately 
for the people of Salta, have never yet arrived. 

Ten or twelve leagues below the pass, the river 
De la,s Piedras, the last affluent of any consequence, 
falls in ; thence the course of the river is easterly 
inclining south, as far as Pitos, the frontier fort of 
Salta in that direction. In the flat saline country 
through which it afterwards runs, its waters imbibe 
a brackish taste, from which it takes the name of 
the Salado, or the salt river, which it preserves the 
whole way to its junction with the Parana, near 
Santa Fe. I have before stated that this river is 
believed to be navigable as high as Matara, in the 
latitude of Santiago del Estero. 

The Vermejo, the most important of all the afflu- 
ents of the Paraguay, is formed by two considerable 



THE VERMEJO AND ITS AFFLUENTS. 279 

streams, which may be generally called the rivers 
of Jujuy and Tarija, from those two departments 
which they respectively drain. At their sources 
they are at no great distance from each other, but 
descending from opposite sides of a snow-capped 
range, the buttresses of which branch out far and 
wide to the south and east, they are soon hurried 
away in totally different directions ; each, however, 
finally sweeping round the base of the stupendous 
platform above, describes, after a long course, 
the segment of a circle, which is rendered all but 
complete by the junction of their waters at a point 
about sixteen leagues below Oran, whence they flow 
together south in one mighty and navigable stream 
the whole way to the Parana. The name of Ver- 
mejo, or the red river, is derived from the occasional 
discoloration of the waters by the red alluvial soil 
which is washed into them during the periodical 
floods. ^ikioasrw 

With respect to the many minor streams which 
fall into the rivers of Jujuy and Tarija, they are for 
the most part mere mountain torrents of little im- 
portance, except as adding to their waters, which 
finally become navigable below Oran. 

The Jujuy river rises near the Abra de Corta- 
deras, about three leagues from Colorados, one of 
the most elevated points passed by the traveller 
on the road to Potosi : from thence the lofty peak 
of Chorolque beyond Tupiza, in the north, and 
the snowy ranges of Atacama, in the north-west,. 



280 THE JUJUY RIVER. 

are distinctly visible. The channel of the river 
in its descent from this elevated region, the vrhole 
way to Jujuy, is little more than a succession 
of precipitous ravines, occasionally swelling into 
basins, highly interesting to the geologist, as exhi- 
biting on all sides evidences of the ti-emendous con- 
vulsions which at some remote period must have 
torn and shaken this part of the continent to its 
very foundations. The road to Potosi winds along 
it, but it would seem to be a region only suited to 
the wild llamas, alpacas, and vicunas, which range 
in countless herds over the snowy ranges above, 
looking down with apparent surprise on the casual 
traveller, who wends his toilsome way through these 
rugged defiles. The favom-ite food of these animals 
is the ichu, a very coarse grass, which is only found 
at an elevation little short of that of perpetual snow. 
At Jujuy the river turns eastward through a more 
open and habitable region, which skirts the southern 
base of these mountain ranges, and about twenty 
leagues beyond receives the Siancas, or Lavayen, its 
most important tributary, which rises in the heights 
of San Lorenzo, to the north-west of the town of 
Salta:— it is afterwards joined by the Ledesma and 
three or four other minor streams, before it falls 
into the Tarija river, as before stated, below Oran. 

The course of the Tarija, in the first instance, is 
nearly as precipitous as that of the Jujuy, running 
through broken mountainous passes ; but when it 
trends to the south, and receives the Pescado (which 



THE TARIJA RIVER. 2B1 

separates the departments of Oran and Tarija), and 
shortly after the Senta, it opens into wide and ex- 
tensive valleys, traversed by many streams, which, 
running down into the main river,, irrigate the rich 
lands along its shores, and unite with the warmth 
of a tropical climate to form one of the most fertile 
districts in the world, raoialav 

These are the principal rivers of this province. 
Its productions are as various as its physical features. 
In the west the mines of the Cerro de Acay and San 
Antonio de los Cobres, have been at times worked 
with considerable success ; and in the still more ele- 
vated districts bordering upon Atacama, the natives of 
Cochinoca, the Rinconada, Cerillos, Santa Catalina, 
and Rosario, employ themselves in collecting consi- 
derable quantities of gold frota the alluyi^^l deposits 
after heavy rains. ': -'^t- i''; v 

It is in those cold regions that the alpacas and 
vicunas are found :■ — the guanaco also abounds there, 
and the beautiful little chinchilla, thousands of 
dozens of the skins of which are yearly collected 
and sent downto Buenos Ayres for. exportation to 

Europe. -'T 1"^> :f^^'V'^---'"^"->r^ <^C:^ nt ..C-^f'^'i-J , -'i- 

In the same part of the province, not far south 
of La Rinconada, are extensive plains of salt, called 
the Salinas of Casabindo, to which the natives 
of the adjoining districts resort when the salt is 
hard and dry, and cut out large blocks of it with 
hatchets, which they load upon their llamas and 
asses, and carry to Salta and Jujuy, and other parts 



282 SAIiT iSND SNOW . 

of the province :— there, also, they collect, in the 
same manner, the snow which is used in those 
towns for making ices in the summer season. The 
eyes of travellers obliged to traverse these inhos- 
pitable wilds are said to be as much affected by the 
glare of the sun reflected from these fields of salt, as 
from the snow-capped mountains which bound them. 
Casabindo is about forty-five leagues east from 
Atacama, the intermediate distance being all Cor- 
dillera, and is situated upon the desolate road from 
Salta, which is appropriately called El Despohlado.^ 

In the valleys, further south, of Colalao, San 
Carlos, Calchaqui, and Cachi, watered by the 
streams which afterwards fall into the Salado, as 
already described^ large quantities of corn and 
maize are groAvn, with which the rest of the pro- 
vince is chiefly supplied : the vine is also exten- 
sively cultivated there, from which a good deal of 
an ordinary wine is yearly made and drunk in those 
parts for want of better. 

It was from their rich pastures, however, watered 
by the mountain streams, that the Salteiios in former 
times derived their principal profits. Before the revo- 
lution, and when the upper provinces, which now form 
the separate state of Bolivia, were part of the Vice- 
Royalty of Buenos Ay res, a great trade was carried 
on by the people of Salta in mules, 50,000 or 60,000 
of which were annually sold there for the service of 
the carriers of Peru : — these mules were chiefly bred 



TRADB IN MULES. 283 

in the provinces of Santa Fe and Cordova, and sent 
to Salta Avhen two or three years old, where, after 
being kept for a season or two in the rich grazing 
grounds of that province, they were considered 
strong enough for the work expected of them in 
the severer climate of the Andes. A periodical fair 
was held in the neighbourhood of Salta, to which 
the purchasers from Peru repaired, and bought the 
animals in droves at the rate of fourteen or sixteen 
dollars each (five or six more if broken in), about 
a third of which was clear profit to the Saltefios, 
who bought them of the Cordova and Santa Fecino 
breeders at a price seldom above ten dollars. Those 
that reached Lima were worth double the price paid 
for them at Salta. A tax, called sisay of three 
quarters of a dollar on each mule, was levied by the 
government, the annual amount of which was destined 
to the maintenance of the forts upon the frontier, kept 
^p as defences against the encroachments of the 
Indians of the Chaco. 

The struggle for independence stopped this traffic, 
for the upper provinces and the greater part of Peru 
being in possession of the Royalists to the last, all 
intercourse with Salta was cut off for many years, 
nor has there been any sufficient encouragement to 
renew it since the restoration of peace. Peru, how- 
ever, must have mules, and it does not appear that 
she is likely to be supplied with them from any 
other quarter in sufficient numbers. 

Proceeding eastward, through the valleys of 



284 DEPARTMENT OF ORAN. 

Campo Santo, and those watered by the Lavayen 
and its affluents, to Oran, and throughout all that 
department, a tropical vegetation is found in all its 
natural luxuriance.* Forests of noble trees stud the 
banks of the rivers, and extend far down the shores 
of the Vermejo, valuable not only as timber, but as 
producing fruits which may be said to supply the 
place of bread and wine to the natives : — suck/* 
amongst others, is the algaroba tree, a sort of acacia,- 
from the fruit of which, a large bean growing in' 
clusters of pods, mixed with maize, the Indians 
make cakes ; and, by fermentation, produce their 
chicha, a strong intoxicating spirit in very gene-^ 
ral use. The quinaquina, the palm-tree, and the 
plant from which the famous mate, or Paraguay tea,^ 
is made, are equally indigenous there, and many 
others, as yet only known to us by their Indian 
names, which it would be useless to recapitulatcw^^-"^*^ 
The cactus, bearing the cochineal insect, and the 
aloe are found in every direction : — from the ma^^ 
cerated fibres of the latter, the Indians of the Chaco^ 
make yarn and ropes, which are found less liable to^ 
rot in water than hemp : — their fishing-nets are 
made of this material, and a variety of bags and 

* When Soria descended the Vermejo in 1826, it was deemed a good 
opportunity to send a collection of specimens of the various woods of 
these regions to Buenos Ayres that they might be examined and more 
properly described, and he told me he had no less than seventy-three 
different species with him, the whole of which were taken from him 
by Dr. Francia, in Paraguay, with everything else on board his 
vessel. 



THE CACTUS AND ALOE. 285 

pouches, for which there is always a demand 
amongst their more civilised neighbours : these ar- 
ticles are variously dyed in indelible colours, pre- 
pared also by the Indians. There is no doubt that 
this plant, which grows as commonly in most parts 
of South America as the thistle with us, might be 
turned, here as elsewhere, to very considerable 
account for many useful purposes. I have seen 
not only beautiful rope, but very good coarse cloth 
manufactured from it; indeed I have now in my 
possession some paintings done in Peru upon a can- 
vass made from it, Avhich could not be distinguished 
from any coarse linen of European make.fg ^ v>srf<aiiflr/ 
At Buenos A yres, where the hedgerows are 
generally formed of the common aloe, I had an. 
opportunity of trying various experiments with it^- 
and had some cordage made from it of beautiful 
texture and whiteness by some sailors from one 
of.iliis Majesty's ships. I also tried my hand at 
making pulque, after seeing Mr. Ward's account of 
the manner in which it is made in Mexico ; but, 
though we obtained an abundance of the liquor, fol- 
lowing the process described by him of taking out 
the stem as soon as it began to shoot, and collecting 
the sap as it accumulated in the socket or basin be- 
neath, it was never sufficiently palatable to our 

* In 1834 a series of trials was made at Toulon in order to ascer- 
tain the comparative strength of cables made of hemp and of the 
aloe (brought from Algiers), which resulted greatly in favour of the 
latter. Of cables of equal size, that made from the aloe raised a 
weight of 2000 kilogrammes, that of hemp a weight of only 400. 



286 THE ALOE. 

tastes to be drinkable ; but this probably was from 
our want of experience in the mode of preparing it : 
however, I have no doubt that consumers enough 
might be found of this or any other such beverage 
amongst a people who can drink so filthy a prepa- 
ration as the chicha, the liquor in common use 
amongst the natives of the united provinces, — one 
of the ingredients of which is said to be maize chewed 
by old Indian women.* ijjuoj^ ^iiiv r/;iia ui 

In some of those saline and arid districts/ Wherre 
no other fresh water is to be found, there grows a 
species of the aloe, well known to the natives, from 
which, on being tapped by an incision made in one 
of the thickest leaves, a clear stream will spurt out 
sufficient to allay the traveller's thirst. 

In many parts of Oran is found the celebrated 
cuca, or coca, plant {Erythroosylon Peruviana), some- 
times called El Arbol del hambre y de la sed, — '*The 
tree of hunger and thirst ;" to the natives more ne- 
cessary than bread. Hungry or weary, with some 
leaves of coca to chew, mixed with a little lime or 
alkali of his own preparation, the Peruvian Indian 
seems to care for no other sustenance: — he never 
rr-wo- :ifi/,noiio3 »e. . 

* Pulque is described by Mr. Ward as the favourite beverage of 
the lower classes in some parts of Mexico. The aloe plant, from 
which it is prepared, is cultivated for the purpose in extensive plan- 
tations ; and so great is the consumption of it, that before the revolu- 
tion the revenue derived from a very small municipal duty levied 
upon it at the gates of the towns averaged 600,000 hard dollars a- 
year, and in 1793 amounted to 817,739, or about 170,0001. sterling. — 
See Ward's ' Mexico,' vol. i. p. 55. 



THE COCA-PLANT. 287 

swallows it, but is perpetually chewing it, as th^ 
Asiatics do the beetle-nut: give him but his bag 
full of this, and at most a little dried maize besides, 
and he will undertake the hardest labour in the 
mines, and, as a courier, perform the most astonish- 
ing journeys on foot, frequently travelling a hundred 
leagues across the snowy and desolate regions of the 
Cordillera. usiboi^ 

In surveying countries like these, still in their 
natural state, it is impossible not to be struck at 
every step with the infinite and wonderful variety of 
the works of the Almighty, and with the manifest 
evidences they uniformly display of an unceasing 
and beneficent provision for all the wants of His 
creatures, in every clime and under all circum^ 
stances. 

In the valleys watered by the Jujuy and its tri- 
butaries, as in many other parts of the republic, the 
indigo grows wild, and the sugar-cane and tobacco 
are extensively cultivated, the two latter being pro- 
duced in sufficient quantity not only for the con- 
sumption of the whole of the province of Salta, but 
for exportation to the rest of the upper provinces, 
and occasionally to Chile. Cotton, also, is grown 
there in considerable quantities, and of a quality 
which would be prized in the markets of Europe, — 
as indeed would be nearly all the valuable produc- 
tions of this highly -favoured region. 

Although in this, as in every other part of the 
republic, the want of population may be considered as 



288 INDIAN LABOUR. 

the great drawback to the full development of its 
natural resources, the Saltenos, and especially those 
in the eastern districts of the province, obtain assist- 
ance to a considerable extent in the cultivation of 
their lands from the Indians of the Mataco nation, 
who live upon the shores of the Vermejo, below the 
junction of the Jujuy. These Indians, now an in- 
dependent people, acknowledging no other authority 
than that of their own Caciques, were in former 
times reduced, in a certain degree, to civilised habits 
by the Jesuits, the fruits of whose influence are still 
perceptible in their occasional intercourse with their 
Christian neighbours, amongst whom they repair at 
the seasons of sowing and harvest to barter their 
service in labour in exchange for articles of cloth- 
ing, and beads and baubles for their women. They 
are very industrious, and in the allotment of work 
will undertake double the daily task of the Creoles : 
— the payment they receive for a month's work is 
from ten to fifteen yards of very coarse cloth or 
baize, the cost of which at Salta may be about a 
quarter of a Spanish dollar, or about a shilling a 
yard : — with this and their food they are perfectly 
content, and, at a similar rate, any number of them 
might be induced to leave their own haunts periodi- 
cally to work in the sugar and tobacco plantations 
of the Spaniards. I was told by an Englishman, 
long resident at Oran, that many hundreds of them 
are yearly engaged at the rate above stated to get in 
the crops in the vicinity of that place. 



CONTRASTED WITH EUROPEAN. 289 

When to this low rate at which productive labour 
may be obtained, we add the existence, now indis- 
putably established, of an uninterrupted navigation 
the whole way from Oran to the Parana, and thence 
to Buenos AyrCs, it is impossible not to be struck 
with the very great natural advantages possessed by 
this province, and with the very small degree of 
energy apparently requisite on the part of the na- 
tives to turn them to the fullest account. It is 
their own fault alone if the sugars and tobacco, the 
cotton, the indigo, and cochineal of Oran, do not 
vie with those of Brazil and Columbia in the mar- 
kets of Europe,. Let the people of these countries 
open their eyes to the importance of their own re- 
sources, and let them not imagine that they them- 
selves are incapable of calling them into action : — 
unfortunately, such a feeling is one of those curses 
to the country engendered by the old colonial 
system of Spain, and which has the eifect, to a la- 
mentable extent, of counteracting that spirit of self- 
confidence and exertion which, on every account, is 
called for on the part of the inhabitants of these 
countries under their new political condition. It is 
this feeling which has led them to turn their eyes to 
the formation of companies in Europe as the best 
mode of bringing their fertile lands into notice and 
cultivation, — an erroneous notion which cannot too 
soon be set right. I do not say that in the tempe- 
rate climate of Buenos Ay res European labourers 
may not be employed to advantage ; but when it be- 

u 



290 



INDIAN LABOUR 



comes a question of sending them into the tropical 
regions in the heart of the continent, whether as 
agricultural labourers or miners, I am satisfied that 
the experiment would only end in utter disappoint- 
ment to all parties. In the first place, it should be 
borne in mind that, to ensure in Europe any sale for 
the productions of so remote a country, the cost of 
their cultivation must be extremely low, as it appears 
to be at present; but what labourer from Europe 
would be satisfied with anything like even double 
the ordinary remuneration for daily labour in that 
part of the world ? Supposing him, however, to be 
conveyed thither, and to be contented, for a time, 
with the abundance of the necessaries of life around 
him, what does lie know of the culture of tropical 
productions, the chances being that he never saw a 
sugar-cane or a cotton plant in the whole course of 
his life ? But, what is of more consequence, how 
long will his physical powers last in a climate, the 
heat of which will be almost insufferable to him, and 
in which the very indulgence of his own ordinary 
habits will soon undermine his constitution and de- 
stroy all his energies ? Of the hundreds of Beres- 
ford's and Whitelock's men, who remained in the 
country after the evacuation of Buenos Ayres by the 
British forces, how very few were afterwards to be 
met with who were not sunk to the lowest scale of 
misery and moral degradation ! 

In tropical climates I am satisfied that Europeans 
will never be able to compete in amount of daily 



CONTRASTED WITH EUROPEAN. 291 

labour with the natives : on the contrary, wlierever 
the trial has been made, the Indian labourer has 
been found capable of enduring an infinitely greater 
degree of bodily exertion than the most robust 
European. It is hardly credible, indeed, what these 
people will go through. In the mines especially, 
where the amount of their daily work^ and the loads 
they are capable of sustaining, have excited the as- 
tonishment of every one who has paid the slightest 
attention to the subject. The stoutest of the 
Cornish miners who accompanied Captain Head in 
his visit to the mine of San Pedro Nolasco, was 
scarcely able to walk with a load of ore which one 
of the natives had with apparent ease brought out of 
the mine upon his shoulders, whilst two others of 
the party who attempted to lift it were altogether 
unable to do so, and exclaimed that it would break 
their backs. 

In these observations I allude of course to the 
labouring class, — I speak of hands not heads, for I 
fully agree in the necessity of introducing improve- 
ments in the cultivation of the native products, — 
which improvements will assuredly be best intro- 
duced by foreigners qualified by experience in other 
countries to superintend and direct those processes, 
both of cultivation and after preparation, which may 
be requisite to ensure their immediate sale in the 
foreign markets for which they are destined. Such 
persons, perhaps, would be best sought for in the 
East or West Indies or Brazil ; and, no doubt, they 

u 2 



292 IMPORTANCE OF 

would not only benefit themselves but tbeir em- 
ployers by introducing into these new countries the 
results of their practical experience elsewhere. It 
is to foreigners, also, that the natives must look to 
instruct them in the use of steam-vessels, upon 
which, after all, the future advancement of these 
remote countries in wealth and civilization will so 
mainly depend. 

I will only add to the observations which I have 
already made upon this subject, my conviction that 
if the governments of Buenos Ayres, Santa Fe, 
and Corrientes would but unite in a sincere deter- 
mination to give a fair trial to the experiment, men 
would be found at Buenos Ayres who would desire 
no better than to be employed on such a service : — 
as to any opposition Dr. Francia might offer to 
it, it is not worth a moment's consideration.* Give 
an English midshipman, of sufficient experience, an 
armed steamer and a picked crew, either of his own 
countrymen or North Americans, to whom he might 
add some of the excellent sailors of Paraguay, and I 
am quite sure he would carry a cargo from Buenos 
Ayres up the Vermejo in perfect safety to Oran, 
despite of Dr. Francia or any such bugbear. This, 
however, is an object which must have the cordial 
support and co-operation of the ruling powers. If 
they shut their eyes to the importance of its success, 

* A small iron steamer, which might be had for 25,000Z. or 30,000^., 
would be quite sufficient to begin with. 



STEAM NAVIGATION. 293 

it would be labour thrown away for any individual 
to volunteer the attempt. 

The government of Buenos Ayres, as the autho- 
rities charged with the general interests of the Re- 
public, from their habitual intercourse with the 
people of other countries, ought to be fully able to 
appreciate the immense benefits which steam-naviga- 
tion has produced elsewhere, and how greatly it has 
tended to promote the prosperity and civilization of 
other nations. It is in their power to extend those 
blessings to their own countrymen in the heart of 
the South American continent, and to produce a 
really United Confederation of the Provinces, instead 
of that which is now little more than nominal, from 
the vast distances which intervene, and operate as 
a bar to almost any intercourse between them. 

With the establishment of steam-navigation, dis- 
tance will cease to be distance, and the upper pro- 
vinces will find a cheap and ready vent for an 
abundance of productions which are now not worth 
the heavy expenses of sending down by land-car- 
riage to Buenos Ayres. 

It is a grave question, deserving the most serious 
attention of those to whom the government of these 
countries is at present intrusted, and in the early 
solution of which, perhaps, their future political 
destinies are involved to an extent far beyond the 
comprehension of any casual observer. 



294 



CHAPTER XIV. 
PROVINCES OF CUYO. 

The towns of Cuyo formerly attached to Cordova. Value of the old 
municipal institutions. San Luis, wretched state of the popu- 
lation. The miserable weakness of the Government, exposes the 
whole southern frontier of the Republic to the Indians. Acon- 
cagua seen from the town. Mines of Carolina. Account of a 
journey over the Pampas in a carriage. Mendoza, extent, 
rivers, artificial irrigation, productions. Mines not worth work- 
ing by English companies. Ancient Peruvian road. City of 
Mendoza, and salubrity of the Climate. San Juan. The pro- 
ductions similar to those of Mendoza, Wine, Brandy, and Corn. 
Quantity of Corn produced yearly. Mines of Jachal. Character 
of the people. Passes across the Andes. Dr. Gillies' account of 
an excursion by those of the Planchon and Las Damas. Sin- 
gular animal found in the provinces of Cuyo named the Chlamy- 
phorus, described by Mr. Yarrell. 

The towns of San Luis, San Juan, and Mendoza, 
with their several jurisdictions, each of which is 
now considered a separate province, in the time 
of the Viceroys were subject to the Intendency 
of Cordova. In 1813, by a decree of the National 
Congress, they were separated from that govern- 
ment, and formed into a distinct province, under 
the denomination of the Province of Cuyo,^ of 

* The word Cuyo, according to Angelis, in the Araucanian lan- 
guage signifies arena^ or sand, which isjhe general character of the 
soil. 



VALUE OF THE CABILDOS. 295 

which Mendoza was made the capital ; but in this, 
as in the other divisions of the republic enacted 
about the same time, the bonds were too loosely 
knit to resist the shocks of party struggles and 
domestic convulsions ; and this arrangement, thougsh 
wisely planned, fell with the dissolution of the Con- 
gress at Buenos Ayres which created it. 

But for the cabildos and municipal institu- 
tions which still existed in most of the principal 
towns of the interior when the metropolitan govern- 
ment was dissolved, in 1820, I believe every sem- 
blance of a legitimate authority would have ceased. 
They retained to a certain extent powers not only 
for the preservation of the public peace, but for the 
administration of justice ; and although perhaps, 
under the circumstances, they afforded facilities for 
the establishment of the federal system in opposition 
to a more centralised form of government, there is 
no doubt they saved the insulated towns in the 
interior from worse consequences. Those institu- 
tions were by far the best part of the colonial 
system planted by the mother country, and they 
were framed upon principles of liberality and inde- 
pendence which formed a very singular exception to 
her general colonial policy. I doubt whether those 
which in most cases have been substituted for them 
have been so wisely cast, or are so suitable to 
the state of society in those countries. The people 
at large were habituated and attached to them, and 
had they been retained, with some reforms adapting 



296 THE OLD CABILDOS. 

them to the new order of things, they might have 
been made the very best foundations for the new 
republican institutions of the country. But the 
truth was, they were essentially too democratic for 
the military power which arose out of the change ; 
they succumbed to that, and the people, having no 
real voice in their new governments, made no strug- 
gle to preserve them. 



duqsi aiofiw bdi oi Iv; 



297 



SAN LUIS. 

Of all the petty governments of the interior that 
of San Luis is one of the most wretched. The 
population, estimated at from 20,000 to 25,000 
souls, is thinly scattered over the estancias, or cat- 
tle-farms, at very long distances from each other, 
w^here they lead a life so far removed from anything 
like civilised society, that it may be doubted if their 
condition is really much better than that of the 
wild Indians, of whom they live in such continual 
dread, and against whose fearful inroads their miser- 
able provincial authorities can afford them no effi- 
cient protection. Their independence and weak- 
ness is a serious evil to the whole republic, which 
is in consequence of it left defenceless on its most 
assailable side. The provinces of Cordova, Santa 
F6, and Buenos Ayres, are obliged to maintain each 
a separate militia to protect their frontiers thus left 
open to the savages ; and the most important of all 
the communications in the republic, the road from 
Buenos Ayres to Mendoza, is constantly unsafe 
from the total absence of all means on the part of 
the government of San Luis to make it otherwise. 
Every year this state of things goes on the evil 
consequences become more manifest ; and, unless the 
ridiculous independence of some of these insulated 



298 SAN LUIS. 

townships be put an end to by their re-annexation 
to their old provincial capitals, not only must their 
own interests be annihilated, but those of the re- 
public at large must materially suffer. It is idle to 
look for any improvement under the present system, 
which can only lead to the diffusion of ignorance 
and moral degradation, if the wretched population 
does not altogether disappear under it. 

The straggling mud-built town of San Luis de 
la Punta, which gives its name to the province^ 
contains about 1500 inhabitants, all miserably poor. 
Bauza places it in lat. 33° 17' 30^ long. 65° 46' 30". 
It is prettily situated on the Ave stern slope of one 
of a group of hills, which appear to be the last 
knolls of the Sierra de Cordova. Dr. Gillies gives 
it 2417 feet above the level of the sea, by baro- 
metrical observation, a greater elevation than the 
traveller from the pampas perhaps would imagine. 
There is, however, a splendid prospect from it; the 
great saline lake of Bevedero glistening at a dis- 
tance, and the interminable plains stretching away 
to the south, covered with a rich vegetation, brilliant 
with gaudy flowers, amongst which the bulbous 
plants are strikingly conspicuous.* 

Towards sunset, the Cordillera, capped with snow, 

* The cactus, which is found in every variety throughout the pro- 
vince of Cuyo, abounds in the neighbourhood of San Luis, and the 
natives collect the cochineal from it, and make it into cakes, which 
they use in dying their ponchos. 



TUPUNGATO. 299 

is often visible, though above 200 miles distant. It 
has been generally supposed to be Tupungato which 
is thus seen ; but Tupungato does not rise above 
the limit of perpetual snovr,* and is often entirely 
free from it ; is it not more likely therefore to be 
Aconcagua, which Captain Fitzroy found to attain 
the enormous elevation of 23,200 feet, upwards of 
2000 higher than the famous Chimborazo ? The 
direct distance differs very slightly of either from 
San Luis, Tupungato is 213, and Aconcagua 216 
geographical miles from it ; the latter being about 
50 miles to the north of the other. 

The gold-mines of San Carolina are about sixty 
miles to the north of San Luis, in the mountains ; 
they have long since been tilled with water, and, 
as there are no capitalists or machinery to drain 
them, they are no longer worked, but the people of 
the hamlet Avash and sift the alluvial soil collected 
at particular places (the lavaderos) in the neigbour- 
hood, and so collect every year a quantity of gold in 
dust and small bean-like lumps, which they calljoe- 
pitas. According to the official returns in the King 

* Although from June to December it is either wholly or partially 
covered with snow, I have seen it in the month of May wholly bare, 
when only a few days before there had been heavy falls of snow on 
the Cumbre, or central ridge, &c. I mention these facts to show that 
Tupungato cannot attain a higher level than that assigned to the 
limit of perpetual congelation, which in this latitude is about 15,000 
feet, though, from the known height of the Cumbre, and its supposed 
elevation above the central ridge, I am disposed to conclude that its 
actual elevation cannot be far short of 15,000 feet (Miers). 



300 CAROLINA MINES. 

of Spain's time, the produce of one year, on which 
duty was paid, was about 150 lbs. At present the 
people take little trouble to collect more than is 
absolutely necessary to enable them to purchase at 
San Luis the few articles of clothing and horse- 
gear which they require ; if anything, they are even 
w^orse off than the gauchos upon the estancias. 
Captain Head paid them a flying visit, and has 
described the wretched poverty in which he found 
them. 

Originally, and before the erection of Buenos 
Ayres into a Vice-Royalty, the province of Cuyo was 
subject to the government of Chile, of which San 
Luis was at that time the frontier-town to the east- 
ward, and the place where the Captains-General in 
consequence first received the honours due to them 
when they crossed the pampas from Buenos Ayres 
to take possession of their government. It takes its 
name from Don Luis de Loyola, a Governor of 
Chile, who founded it in the year 1596. 

By the post-road it is 226 leagues distant from 
Buenos Ayres, and 84 from Mendoza ; and it is the 
only place that exceeds the description of a strag- 
gling village throughout the whole distance. The 
road which runs through it has been often described 
by those who have crossed the pampas in the last 
twenty years, and they have left little to say about it. 
By all accounts it seems to be a most uninteresting 
one ; and the grand object, therefore, is to get over 
it with the greatest possible expedition. The more 



PAMPA TRAVELLING. 301 

common mode of performing the journey is on 
horseback ; but this is necessarily attended with 
great fatigue, and he must have an iron constitution 
who attempts it ; but if he can live upon meat yet 
warm with life, or barely toasted over a gaucho fire, 
dispense with bread, drink brackish water, and sleep 
as a luxury upon the ground in the open air, in spite 
of bugs as big as beetles, which will suck him like 
vampires, his saddle for a pillow, and the sky for his 
covering, and with such fare gallop a hundred miles 
a day, he may, barring accidents, reach Mendoza in 
about ten days. He will find no temptation to loiter 
on the way, though much to make him wish to reach 
his journey's end. 

There are post-houses, or stations, along the whole 
line of road, where relays of horses may be had ; 
wretched animals in general, to all appearance, 
though the work they will sometimes do is almost 
incredible, and that of course entirely upon green 
food ; it is true their gaucho riders never spare them, 
and their tremendous spurs_, reeking with blood when 
they dismount, but too cruelly indicate in general the 
goad which has urged them on. Unlike the Arab 
or the Cossack, the gaucho seems to have no kind 
feeling whatever for his horse; the intrinsic value 
of the animal being of no importance, if he drops on 
the way his rider cares not, he lassoes and mounts 
another beast, and abandons the exhausted one to 
the condors and vultures, always on the look-out for 
such a chance, and which will tear the flesh from 



302 TRAVELLING ACROSS 

the poor brute's bones as soon as they find he has 
not strength enough left to shake or kick them off. 
The mares lead a better life, being kept entirely fo.« 
breeding ; and custom is so strong that no considera- 
tion would induce a gaucho to mount one. The 
pampa Indians have the same feeling, but they keep 
them for food as well as breeding; mare's flesh by 
them is preferred to all other, indeed it is their ordi- 
nary food. 

But it is not absolutely necessary to go through 
the fatigue of riding on horseback across the pampas, 
and, for those disposed to consult their ease, an ad- 
mirable sort of carriage may be had at Buenos 
Ayres, called a galera, in appearance more resem- 
bling a London omnibus than any other carriage I 
ever saw ; it is swung upon hide ropes, and is of 
light though very strong construction ; and in th* 
the journey as far as Mendoza may be performed in 
fourteen or fifteen days without difficulty. At the 
same time that Captain Head started to ride on 
horseback across the pampas, another friend of mine, 
with four or five persons in his suite, who was de- 
sirous to combine as much comfort as possible with 
such an undertaking, left Buenos Ayres in the sort 
of carriao^e I have described : he had besides with 
him a cart on two wheels, for the conveyance of 
baggage, bedding, cooking utensils, &c., and much 
such a supply of stock as people would lay in for a 
voyage by sea of two or three weeks' duration. On 
reaching Mendoza, he sent me an account of his 



THE PAMPAS. 303 

journey, from which I extract the following, for the 
benefit of those disposed to follow his example : — 

" Mendoza, December, 1825. 
'^ We reached this place on the morning of the 
eighteenth day from our leaving Buenos Ayres. 
H — d, who started on horseback at the same time, 
did it in nine, but with so much fatigue as to be 
obliged to lie up for some days afterwards to re- 
cruit. We might easily have done it in our car- 
riage in fourteen or fifteen, for we galloped nearly 
the whole way, as he did, but for the tiresome stop- 
pages we were continually obliged to make in order 
to repair our cart ; these kept us half a day at one 
place, one day at another, and two whole ones at 
San Luis. Though you laughed, as well you might, 
at our set-out, and at the appearance of our galera 
and caratillo, stuffed with my manifold preparations 
for personal comfort, I can truly say, now the ex- 
pedition is over, that of all carriage contrivances the 
galera is infinitely the best calculated for an excur- 
sion across the pampas ; ours was remarkably easy 
over the roughest roads, capable of resisting all in- 
jury from them, and its high wheels well adapted for 
preventing our sinking in the quagmires, whilst it 
formed a comfortable bedroom at night. Of the ca- 
ratillo I cannot speak favourably: — from its construc- 
tion it was not suited to keep pace with the galera ; 
two galeras would be better, especially if there were 
ladies of the party, in which case one might be fitted 



304 THE PAMPA ROAD 

especially for their convenience, with couches for 
sleeping, &c. The pies and provisions might be 
stowed away in lockers, as the sailors would call 
them, made for the purpose ; and the more good 
things in the shape of eatables and drinkables 
you can get into them the better^ unless you 
have the stomach of an ostrich to digest what the 
gauchos offer you. The filth of the post-houses 
is beyond description, dirt and vermin of every 
kind in them, and no accommodation of any sort 
for the traveller ; even our peons preferred sleeping 
in the open air, and you w^ould not suspect them 
of being over nice ; I never in my life saw such a 
set of wild devils. 

" The country is more uninteresting than any I 
ever travelled over, in any quarter of the globe. I 
should divide it into five regions : — first, that of 
thistles, inhabited by owls and biscachas ; secondly, 
that of grass, where you meet with deer and 
ostriches, and the screaming horned plover ; thirdly, 
the region of swamps and bogs, only fit for frogs ; 
fourthly, that of stones and ravines, where I expected 
every moment to be upset ; and, lastly, that of ashes 
and thorny shrubs, the refuge of the tarantula and 
binchuco, or giant bug. 

Its geological aspect differed somewhat from what 
I expected. I should say that, to the north and 
south of Mendoza, there have been volcanoes, the 
eruptions from which have covered the country 
(perhaps the bed of a sea) with ashes as far as San 



TO MENDOZA. 305 

Luis : the peculiar soil so formed, combined with 
the effects of climate and the salt lakes, may perhaps 
account for the particular species of thorny plants 
which are undescribed and confined to this region. 
The mountain streams, overflowing the saline lakes, 
are the origin of the vast swamps between San Luis 
and the Rio Quarto ; and the decomposed granite 
and gneiss from the Sierra de Cordova, gives rise to 
the difference in the soil, and to its elevation along 
the Rio Tercero." 



X 



306 



MENDOZA. 

The province of Mendoza occupies a space of 
something more than 150 miles from north to south, 
along the eastern side of the Cordillera of the 
Andes, and nearly an equal distance from east to 
west, measured from the Desaguadero to the central 
ridge of the Andes. The northern boundary is 
formed by a line passing east and west through the 
post station of Chanar, about eighteen miles north 
of the city, which divides it from the jurisdiction of 
San Juan. To the south the nominal frontier line 
is the river Diamante, although lands beyond that 
river have been purchased from the Indians, which 
are likely, perhaps, to become some of the most va- 
luable of the province, especially for the purposes of 
cattle breeding, for which those in the vicinity of 
Mendoza are not suitable. 

The river Desaguadero is the divisional line be- 
tween the provinces of San Luis and Mendoza : — 
this river is the drain of a singular chain of lakes 
known by the name of Guanacache, formed by the 
confluence of the river Mendoza, which runs into 
them from the south, and the San Juan river, Avhich, 
after passing the town or city so called, is discharged 
into them from the north. The Desaguadero, after 



RIVER DESAGUADERO. 307 

receiving these rivers, runs first in an easterly direc- 
tion, and afterwards south, into a vast lake called the 
Bevedero, below the town of San Luis : — a portion, 
also, of the waters of the river Tunuyan are lost in 
the same great sack-like lake, which thus becomes 
the reservoir of the greater part of the streams which 
issue from the Andes between the thirty-first and the 
thirty- fourth degree of latitude. It is said that in 
old times the Tunuyan also, like the rivers of Men- 
doza and San Juan, had no other outlet, but that 
river, at a later period, opened for itself a new 
channel, and though a portion of its waters are still 
carried into the Bevedero, the greater part of them 
turn off to the south before reaching it in a stream 
called the Rio Nuevo by Bauza, and the Desagua- 
dero by Cruz,* which runs in that direction a con- 
siderable distance, till the Diamante and Chadileubti 
rivers join it, and together they form another great 
inland water without any outlet, called the Urre- 
lauquen, or Bitter Lake, from its extreme saltness, 
as described in chapter eight. Tlie account of this 
lake given to Cruz by the Indians who accompanied 
him in his journey across that part of the Pampas 
in 1806, has been verified of late years by General 
Aldao, who personally examined it in an expedition 
which he commanded against the savages in 1833, 
when he rode round it, and ascertained that it had 
no outlet. 

* Dr. Gillies says where the Diamante joins it, it is called the 
Salado. 

x2 



308 ARTIFICIAL IRRIGATION. 

The river Tunuyan rises from the base of the 
mighty mountain of Tupungato, and at first runs 
south through a wide and rich valley in the Cor- 
dillera ; passing eastward of the volcano of Maypu, 
or Peuquenes, it afterwards finds its way through 
the eastern chain of the Andes by a deep chasm or 
opening, which it seems to have burst for itself 
through the mountains seven or eight miles below 
the Portillo Pass, and nearly opposite to where the 
Maypu leaves the Cordillera on the western side : 
thence its course through the plains is north, and 
afterwards eastward, in the direction of the great 
lake Bevedero, as already stated. 

It would seem as though Nature herself had ex- 
pressly directed the course of these rivers, viz., the 
Mendoza, Desaguadero, and Tunuyan, in such a 
way as to facilitate to the inhabitants the means of 
artificially irrigating their lands, which, from the 
quality of the soil, and the rarity of rain, would be 
otherwise barren and unproductive * : — as it is, the 
quantity of lands artificially watered by ducts from 
the rivers Mendoza and Tunuyan is estimated at 
about 30,000 square leagues, and these lands, which 
are arid and barren when not so watered, become, 
under regular irrigation, uncommonly rich and fer- 
tile, yielding frequently, under a very rude and 

* In the more southern parts of the province, in the direction of 
the Diamante, corn may be grown without the labour and expense of 
artificial irrigation, the rains which fall there being sufficient to render 
it unnecessary. 



PRODUCE OF MENDOZA. 



309 



simple mode of agriculture, more than a hundred- 
fold. Wheat, barley, and maiz are thus grown ; 
besides which there are extensive vineyards 
and orchards, and grounds covered with lucern 
grass for the fattening of cattle, — all regularly en- 
closed, and walled in with thick mud walls, called 
tapiales. 

The products of the province are wine, brandy, 
raisins, figs, wheat, flour, hides, tallow, and soap, 
which last is made from a species of barilla, which 
abounds in most parts of it : — a considerable portion 
of these is exported to Chile and to the provinces 
of Cordova, San Luis, and Buenos Ayres. The 
quantities so disposed of will be best understood by 
the following official return of the exports for a 
single year : — 

Account of Exports of Produce of Mendoza for other parts during the ^ear 

1827. 



Where sent. 


Brandy. 


Wine. 


Corn 

and 

Flour. 


*Dried 

Fruits. 


Hides. 


Soap. 


Tallow 


Pipes. 


Loads. 


Pipes. 


Loads. 


Loads. 


Loads. 


No. 


Loads. 


Loads. 


Buenos Ayres 


336 


2144 


290 


3120 


1098 


520 


670 





__ 


San Luis . . 


— 


70 


— 


488 


1634 


85 


— 


60 


— 


Cordova . . 


— 


95 


— 


355 


125 


49 


— 


— 


— 


Santa F6 . . 


— 


81 


— 


172 


469 


39 


— 


— 


— 


Chile . . 


— 


12 


— 


— 


— 


— 


8700 


571 


88 




336 


2402 


290 


4135 


4452 


693 


9370 


631 


8 



* The dried fruits consist of figs, peaches, apples, nuts, olives, &c. 
Between 300 and 400 mules were sold for Chile in the same year. The 
load or carga is equal to about 200 lbs. 



310 SILVER MINES 

In addition to these native products, the mineral 
riches of the province are various and valuable. 
The silver mines of Uspallata have at times been 
very productive, and in other parts of the same 
range veins, both of silver and copper, are known to 
exist, though want of capital and labourers has 
hitherto prevented their being opened. With re- 
spect to the working of these mines by English 
companies, and in the English manner, the best 
opinions seem to agree that it would not answer to 
make the attempt. 

Mr. Miers carefully examined the mines at Us- 
pallata, and has given a particular account of the 
mode in which they are worked by the natives, and 
of the process resorted to for separating the silver 
from the ore. At the time he visited them they 
were not yielding more than two marks per caxon :* 
a very low average, upon which he has taken the 
trouble to make calculations to show that the Eng- 
lish mode of smelting can never be brought into 
competition with the process of amalgamation as 
practised in South America. He says, — " To en- 
sure economical results the aid alone of the people 
of the country, as well as the application of their 
peculiar habits and management, must be resorted 
to: wherever English improvements are attempted 
to supersede the old methods, such trials would be 

* The mark is eight Spanish ounces, or seven ounces, three penny- 
weights, fourteen grains, troy, Enghsh. The caxon is fifty quintals, 
or 5000 lbs. of ore. 



OF USPALLATA. 311 

attended with loss. No one," he adds, " can doubt 
but that in the barbarous mode of operation followed 
in Chile great loss of product is occasioned ; but 
when this loss is placed in competition with the in- 
creased cost of labour, materials, and management 
necessary to ensure a greater amount of produce, the 
inference is irresistible that it is better to put up 
with this loss than to expend a sum of money far 
beyond the value of what can be obtained by adopt- 
ing the improved methods used in countries where 
facilities abound which can hardly be procured at any 
price in Chile and La Plata." 

Captain Head, after seeing them, came to a similar 
conclusion : he considered that, although they might 
yield a liberal return under the more economical 
plan of employing native labourers properly directed^ 
and at the ordinary low rate of wages paid for such 
labour in that part of the country ; from the want of 
water, wood for fuel, and pasturage for cattle through- 
out the region in which they are situated, they would 
not repay the cost of working them by machinery, or 
by an English estabhshment. 

In all this part of the Cordillera is to be found an 
abundance of limestone, gypsum, alum, mineral pitch, 
bituminous shales with appearances of coal in many 
places, slates, and a variety of saline deposits, amongst 
others common and Glauber salts. 

The same metalliferous chain of the Andes ex- 
tends, according to Gillies, with little interruption, 
from Chile to Peru, and contains the greater part 



312 POPULATION. 

of the gold and silver mines yet known on the 
eastern ranges of the great Cordillera, including, 
besides those of Uspallata, the mines of the province 
of San Juan, and further north those of Famatina 
in La Rioja. It is separated from the central ridge 
of the Andes by an extensive valley, or succession of 
valleys, running northwards from Uspallata, through 
which it is said that an ancient road of the Peru- 
vians is to be traced at the present day nearly to 
Potosi ; a point well worth the attention of the anti- 
quarian, and of great interest, as connected with 
the state of civilization which the aborigines had at- 
tained before their conquest by the Spaniards. 

The population of the province of Mendoza is cal- 
culated to be from 35,000 to 40,000 souls, about a 
third of which is resident in the city and its imme- 
diate vicinity. The executive power is vested in a 
Governor, periodically chosen, as in the other pro- 
vinces, by the Junta, or Provincial Assembly. 

A visible improvement has taken place in the 
condition of this people in the last twenty years ; 
for, although at so vast a distance from the Capi- 
tal, like Salta, its position as a frontier town has 
given it some special advantages : it has led to com- 
munications with foreigners, and to a traffic with 
Chile and with Buenos Ayres, which, by teaching 
them the value of their own resources, has roused a 
sort of commercial spirit amongst the inhabitants, 
and has stimulated them to more iiidustrious habits. 
The government has taken pains to establish schools- 



STATE OF SOCIETY. 313 

for the education of all classes, and the setting up 
of a printing press^ from which has issued an oc- 
casional newspaper, has been of great use, not only 
in opening the eyes of the people at large to the 
proceedings of their own rulers, but in furnishing 
them with some notion as to what is going on from 
time to time in other parts of the world. 

They are, in general, a healthy and well-condi- 
tioned race : descended many of them from families 
originally sent from the Azores by the Por- 
tuguese government to colonise Colonia del Sacra- 
mento on the river Plate, and made prisoners and 
settled in those remote parts by Cevallos, during the 
war which preceded the peace of 1777. It is pro- 
bably much owing to them that the cultivation of 
the vine has been so extensively introduced in this 
part of the Republic. 

The city of Mendoza, which, according to Bauza, 
is in south latitude 32° 52', west longitude 69° 6' ; 
at an elevation of 4891 feet above the sea, and at 
the very foot of the Andes, is shut out from any 
view of the great Cordillera by a dusky range of 
lower hills which intervene. Its appearance is neat 
and cheerful : the houses, for the most part, built 
of sun-burnt bricks, plastered and whitewashed ; 
and the streets laid out at right angles, as usual in 
that part of the world. It boasts of an Alameda, or 
public walk, said to equal anything of the kind laid 
out, as yet, in South America : — it is nearly a mile 
long, neatly kept, and shaded by rows of magnificent 



314 MENDOZA. 

poplars : — there are seats and pavilions at either 
end for the accommodation of the inhabitants, by 
whom it is much frequented as a lounge, especially 
of an evening. 

The climate is delightful and salubrious, and is 
remarkably beneficial to persons suffering from pul- 
monary affections. The only ailment to which the 
people seem more liable here than in the interior is 
the goitre, which I suppose may be attributed to the 
same causes, whatever they are, which seem to pro- 
duce it in almost all alpine districts. 

131; ■ 



YXl 



315 



SAN JUAN. 

The province of San Juan, which adjoins that of 
Mendoza, occupies the space between the great 
Cordillera and the mountains of Cordova, as far 
north as the Llanos, or plains, of La Rioja. It is 
said to contain about 25,000 inhabitants, governed, 
at present, like those of Mendoza, and occupied very 
much in the same manner, in the cultivation of their 
vineyards and gardens, and in agricultural pursuits. 
Their exports of brandies and wines to the other 
provinces are little short of those from Mendoza, and 
the quantity of corn they annually grow has been 
estimated at from 100,000 to 120,000 English 
bushels. The same lands produce yearly crops 
under the process of artificial irrigation from waters 
highly charged with alluvial matter. The ordinary 
crops are 50 for 1, in better lands 80 to 100, and 
in some, as at Augaco, about five leagues to the 
north of the city of San Juan, they have been known 
to yield 200 and 240. The price in the province is 
from one and a half to two Spanish dollars for a 
fanega, equal there to about two and a half English 
bushels. The wages of a day labourer are from ^ve 
to six dollars a month, besides his food, which may 
be worth a rial a day more. 

In times of scarcity corn has been sent from San 



316 PRODUCTIONS 

Juan to Buenos Ayres, a distance of upwards of a 
thousand miles ; but this can never answer under 
ordinary circumstances, from the great expense at- 
tending the land carriage. It is different with the 
wines and brandies, which, after all charges, can be 
sold in most of the provinces of the interior, and even 
at Buenos Ayres, at a fair profit. They are in ge- 
neral demand amongst the lower orders, and, if pains 
were taken with them, might be very much improved. 
I have had samples of as many as eight or ten dif- 
ferent qualities, all of them good, sound, strong- 
bodied wines, and only requiring more care in their 
preparation for market. 

In the northern part of this province, in the lower 
ranges of the Cordillera, is the district of Jachal, in 
which are what are called the Gold Mines : — they 
are, as far as I could learn, much in the same state 
as those of La Carolina in the province of San Luis, 
already spoken of. Their yearly produce was esti- 
mated, in 1825, at 80,000 dollars, the greater part 
of which was sent to Chile to be coined at the mint 
of Santiago. The accuracy of this calculation has 
been disputed, but, even if true to its fullest extent, 
the amount is of no great consequence. 

The situation of the city of San Juan is in latitude 
31° 4', according to Molina. Mr. Arrowsmith has 
placed it in longitude 68° 57' 30". 

The climate is described as truly heavenly, and the 
people as a well-disposed race, extremely anxious to 
improve both their moral and political condition. In 



OF SAN JUAN. 317 

this they have had chiefly to struggle with the 
countervailing influence of an ignorant, vicious, and 
bigoted priesthood, which has been greatly opposed 
to all innovations :— the political power, however, of 
this class of persons is fast on the wane at San Juan, 
as in most other parts of the Republic. 



318 



PASSES OF THE ANDES. 

I shall conclude this chapter with a list of the 
passes across the Andes from the several provinces 
of this republic of which I have any account : they 
are twelve in number : — 

First. — The most northerly is a continuation of 
the road called the Despoblado, which crosses the 
mountainous districts of the north-western part of 
the province of Salta by the mines of Yngaguasi to 
Atacama. 

Second. — A pass from the province of La Rioja 
communicates with Guasco and Copiapo in Chile.* 

Third. — Another, further south, leads from the 
province of San Juan to Coquimbo. 

Fourth. — That called Los Patos on the north 
flank of the great mountain of Aconcagua, descend- 
ing into Chile by the valley of the Putaendo, a small 
river which joins the larger one of Aconcagua in 
the plains below, near the town of San Felipe. It 
was by this road that General San Martin made his 
celebrated march over the Andes with the army of 
Buenos Ay res in 1817, which led to the liberation 
of Chile from the Spanish yoke. 

* According to Myen, a recent traveller, this part of the Cordillera 
is not so elevated as more to the south:— he says it is passable at 
several points of the province of Copiapo. 



PASS OF THE CUMBRE. 319 

Fifth. — The pass of the Cumbre by Uspallata, 
the road most usually taken by travellers proceeding 
from Mendoza to Santiago de Chile, and which has 
been very particularly described by several English- 
men, who have gone that way. Of the published 
accounts that of Mr. Miers is, perhaps, the best, as 
he had the most opportunities of making it so, 
having crossed it no less than four times, once with 
his wife, who was taken in labour upon the road. 
Lieutenant Brand's is particularly interesting, from 
his having crossed at the season when the Cordillera 
was covered with snow, which obliged him to pro- 
ceed on foot a great part of the way, and to en- 
counter fearful risks, which he has very graphically 
described. The whole distance from Mendoza to 
Santiago is 107 post leagues ; and the highest part 
of the Andes crossed is (by barometrical measure- 
ment), according to Dr. Gillies, 12,530 feet above 
the sea :— Mr. Miers says about 600 feet less. From 
the commencement of November to the end of May, 
occasionally a few weeks sooner or later, this road 
is passable the whole distance on mules : — for the 
rest of the year it is generally closed to all but foot- 
passengers, and the crossing is then attended with 
considerable danger ; many lives have been lost in 
attempting it. 

A striking object on this road is the splendid 
arch called the Inca's Bridge, seventy-five feet over, 
which nature has thrown across a ravine one hun- 
dred and fifty feet deep, through which runs the 



320 PASS OF THE PORTILLO. 

river of Las Cuevas. There are natural hot springs 
about it, which some persons suppose to have contri- 
buted to its formation : — it is evident, however, that 
some infinitely more powerful agency has been at 
work, from the appearance of beds of fossil shells 
there at an elevation of 8650 feet above the level of 
the present sea. 

Sixth. — About half way over, near the station 
called the Punta de las Vacas, a road branches off 
to the valley of Tupungato, and afterwards crosses 
the Cordillera to the north of the peak so called, 
descending on the opposite side into Chile by the 
valley of the little river Dehesa, from which it is 
called the Dehesa Pass : it is very little used. 

Seventh. — South of the mountain of Tupungato is 
the Portillo Pass, which falls into the valley of the 
river Maypti in Chile with the Rio del Yeso. By 
many travellers it is preferred to the high road 
by Uspallata, being the shorter way of the two by 
twenty leagues : — it is, however, seldom open longer 
than from the beginning of January to the end of 
April, the greater elevation of that part of the Cor- 
dillera causing it to be longer blocked up by the 
snow. 

The way to it from Mendoza runs southward, 
parallel to the mountains as far as the estancia of 
Totoral, upon the north bank of the river Tunuyan, 
distant about sixty-five miles from that city, and 
some twenty from the base of the Cordillera: — 
thence the pass bears west-south-west, distant about 



VOLCANO OF PEUQUENES. 321 

thirty-six miles ; the breach in the mountains 
through which the Tunuyan runs being plainly vi- 
sible to the south of it. This part of the Andes seems 
to consist of two great parallel ridges running nearly 
north and south, and separated from each other by 
the valley of the Tunuyan, the width of which is 
about twenty miles, and its elevation above the sea, 
where crossed by the road, about 7500 feet. Of 
the two ranges the eastern one is the highest, be- 
ing, where the road crosses it, 14,365 feet above the 
sea : — this chain extends with little interruption from 
the river of Mendoza, southwards, to the Diamante, 
a distance of about 140 miles : — the western, or 
Chilian range, where crossed by the road, is not 
above 13,200 feet high.* 

In this part of the Cordillera is situated the vol- 
cano of Peuquenes, or Maypu, eruptions from which 
have been frequent since the great earthquake which 
produced such disturbance in 1822 : — they generally 
consist of ashes and clouds of pumice-dust, which 
are carried by the winds occasionally as far as 
Mendoza, a distance little short of 100 miles. In 
crossing; from the eastern to the western side of the 
valley of the Tunuyan travellers have, at first, the 
summit of the volcano concealed from them, but 
about half way between that river and the pass of 
Peuquenes there is a good view of it eight or nine 
miles distant to the south : — the summit is generally 
covered with snow, and cannot be nmch less than 

* These heights are given on the authority of Dr. Gillies. 

Y 



322 PASSES OF LAS DAMAS 

15,000 feet above the sea. It is from the pumice-rock 
found in this neighbourhood that the people of 
Mendoza make basins for filtering the muddy water 
of their river. 

Eighth. — To the south of this volcano is situated 
a pass called De la Cruz de Piedra^ which enters the 
Cordillera where a small stream, the A guanda, issues 
from it, about two leagues to the north of the fort of 
San Juan : — it unites with the road by the Portillo 
pass on the opposite side of the Andes in the valley 
of the Maypu. 

Ninth. — Further south one little frequented unites 
the valleys of the rivers Diamante and Cachapoal : 
this is previous to reaching the volcano of Peteroa, 
T3eyond which are situated the passes of Las Dam as 
and of the Planchon. 

Tenth. — Of these the Las Damas, or ladies' pass, 
enters the Cordillera from Manantial in the valley 
of the river Atuel, and descends by that of the 
Tinguiririca, which issues from the mountain of San 
Fernando: — this was the pass which M. de Souillac, 
in 1805, reported might, at a very small expense, be 
rendered passable for wheel-carriages.* 

Eleventh. — The road by the Planchon leads to 
Curico and Talca, following the courses of the 
rivers Claro and Teno : — on neither of these roads 

* Zamudio, an officer in the service of Buenos Ayres, who exa- 
mined it the year before M. de Souillac, is said to have actually passed 
it with a two-wheel cart. Dr. Gillies does not give so favourable an 
account of its present state. 



AND EL PLANCH ON. 323 

does the elevation exceed 11,000 feet, oi* the vegeta- 
tion ever cease. 

The twelfth pass is that of Antuco, from which 
Cruz started in 1806 to cross the Pampas to Buenos 
Ayres : — the road by it to Conception in Chile fol- 
lows the valleys of the rivers Laxa and Biobio. To 
the south of the volcano in the vicinity of this pass, 
which Cruz could not get up, but which has since 
been ascended by M. Pseppig, a German naturalist 
(who nearly lost his life in the attempt), lies a ridge 
called the Silla Velluda, rising, according to his 
estimation, to the height of 17,000 feet, on the rugged 
sides of which, below the snow and glaciers, are to 
be traced ranges of basaltic columns. 

Of the most frequented of these passes, viz., those 
by Uspallata and the Portillo, there are, as I have 
already said, several accounts in print, but, as I 
know of no other Englishman except the late Dr. 
Gillies who has examined those of Las Damas and 
the Planchon with any attention, I shall here quote 
part of a letter which he wrote to me in 1827, giving 
an account of a short excursion he made by them in 
that year ; and I do so the rather because it also gives 
some account of the intervening country, which has 
never, as far as I know, been described by any one 
else : — 

" About the middle of May I returned from an 
excursion of ten weeks to the south which I had 
long meditated. After reaching the river Diamante, 
the southern boundary of the province of Mendoza, 1 

Y 2 



324 PASSES OF LAS DAM AS 

crossed that river and ascended the Cerro del Dia- 
mante, and at every step found ample evidence of its 
volcanic origin : the ascent was covered with masses 
of lava, and near the summit with loose pumice. 
The upper part of the mountain consists of a ridge 
elevated a little at each of the extremities into a 
rounded form, on the north side of which, a little 
below the summit, is a plateau about 400 yards 
in diameter, which undoubtedly has been formerly 
the crater of a volcano. The whole mountain ap- 
pears to rest on an immense bed of pumice-stone. 
On the steep banks of the Diamante opposite to it 
such strata are laid open on both sides : — at one 
place on the south bank I traced one great mass of 
pumice-rock, 100 feet long and 145 wide_, the whole 
forming distinct basaltic pillars. 

" From this interesting spot we proceeded towards 
the mountains of the Andes, and amongst the first 
low hills examined several springs of petroleum, 
about which it is curious to observe the remains of a 
variety of insects, birds, and animals, which, having 
got entangled there, have been unable to extricate 
themselves : — so tenacious is this substance that (as 
I was assured by an eye-witness) some years ago 
a lion was found in the same situation, which had 
made fruitless attempts to escape. Following the 
base of this lower range southward, after a few 
leagues we reached the banks of the river Atuel, a 
copious stream much larger than either the river of 
Mendoza or the Tunuyan : — its bed, very unlike that 



AND EL PLANCHON. 325 

of the Diamante, is very little lower than the sur- 
rounding plains, which gradually slope off to the 
eastward for twelve or fourteen leagues, as I had an 
opportunity afterwards of observing. 

" The north bank, where we crossed it, seems ad- 
mirably adapted for an agricultural settlement : it is 
there that the several roads diverge across the Cor- 
dillera to San Fernando, Curico, and Talca, in 
Chile ; and to the south into the country of the 
Indians. We proceeded from thence towards the 
Planchon, along a succession of valleys rich in 
pasturage, but very bare of shrubbery : in several 
places we saw immense masses of gypsum, and 
passed a mountain from which is obtained an alu- 
minous earth, much used in Chile as a pigment for 
dyeing. The pass of the Planchon is along the 
north shoulder of a lofty mountain, apparently com- 
posed of sonorous slaty strata. My barometer un- 
fortunately got out of order before I reached the 
highest elevation ; but, as vegetation extends to the 
top of the pass, it must be considerably lower than 
the passes of the Portillo and of Uspallata^ on both 
of which all vegetation ceases long before reaching 
the higher points of the road. The descent from the 
Planchon is very rough^ and in many places steep : 
at a distance of three leagues from the top we reached 
our resting-place, surrounded by luxuriant vegeta- 
tion, and thence descended to Curico, along a valley 
with steep mountains on either side, and through a 
continuous thicket of lofty trees and shrubs, amongst 



326 ROADS CROSSED BY 

which I may enumerate the Chilian cypress, the 
qui Hay, the canelo or cinnamon-tree, the caustic 
laurel, a variety of myrtles, a beautiful fuscia, and 
others no less interesting. 

" From Curico we went to Talca, a considerable 
town, and thence explored the river Maule, with a 
view to its capabilities for navigation. We returned 
by Curico to San Fernando, where we re-entered the 
Cordillera by the valley of the Tinguiririca to ascend 
the pass of Las Damas : the road was very similar 
to that we had previously descended from the Plan- 
chon to Curico ; but, being much less frequented, it 
was in many places difficult and dangerous. In the 
upper part of this valley we examined some hot 
springs, the temperature of which reached 170° of 
Fahrenheit. Thence we were induced to devote two 
days to visit a volcano, — which was described to us 
as being in an active state, — about ten leagues dis- 
tant : thither we proceeded by a most rugged and 
dangerous path, and reached within half a league of 
the summit, when so serious a snow-storm came on, 
that we had the mortification of being forced to 
return without accomplishing our object; nor had 
we any time to lose, for the snow had so completely 
obliterated all traces of the way, that our guide was 
completely lost, and, but for the observations I had 
taken with my compass, I know not how we should 
have got back at all. On reaching our mules again, 
the weather was so unpromising that we made all 
haste to recross the mountainSj lest they should be 



DR. GILLIES. 327 

closed against us by the heavy snow which was 
falling ; this we happily accomplished, and three 
days brought us back again to the place where we 
had first crossed the Atuel river. After visiting the 
extensive saline lakes in that vicinity, from which 
the province is supplied with salt, we bent our way 
back to Mendoza. 

" In this journey I had an opportunity 1 had long 
desired of examining on the Cordillera the plant 
from the root of which the natives of Chile obtain 
their admirable red dye." 

Dr. Gillies, the writer of this letter, passed many 
years at Mendoza, where he recovered from a severe 
pulmonary affection, and was himself a striking in- 
stance of the beneficial effects of the climate under 
such circumstances. Botany was his favourite pur- 
suit; but he did not confine himself to this, and 
never lost an opportunity of collecting useful in- 
formation on every other point which fell under his 
notice. 

His botanical acquisitions were, I believe, chiefly 
communicated to Professor Hooker, of Glaso:ow, 
through whom they were occasionally made known 
to the public. His collections of the ores of Uspal- 
lata and other parts of the Cordillera were given to 
the College Museum at Edinburgh. I am myself 
indebted to him for the best part of my information 
respecting the provinces of Cuyo. It was through 
him 1 obtained, amongst other curiosities from those 
parts, the very remarkable little animal which is 
figured in the annexed plate, and which is now in 



328 THE CHLAMYPHOKUS. 

the collection of the Zoological Society of London . 
It has hitherto been only found in the provinces of 
Cuyo, and even there but rarely : it burrows in the 
ground, and in its habits somewhat resembles the 
mole, 1} ing dormant during the winter months ; the 
natives call it the Pichi-ciego. Dr. Harlan, of New 
York, was the first to give an account of it, from an 
imperfect specimen sent to him from Mendoza ; and 
he gave it the name of chlamyphorus truncatus. 

European naturalists, however, doubted its exist- 
ence till the point was settled beyond dispute by the 
arrival of my specimen, which fortunately was per- 
fect, and in an excellent state of preservation. At 
the request of the council of the Zoological Society, 
Mr. Yarrell drew up a particular account of its 
osteology, which was published in the third volume 
of their Journal, and from which, ^vith his permis- 
sion, I extract the following observations upon its 
comparative anatomy. 

" From the representation of the skeleton and its 
diiFerent parts it will be perceived that the clilamy- 
pJiotms truncatus has points of resemblance to several 
other quadrupeds, but that it possesses also upon each 
comparison many others in which it is totally dif- 
ferent. 

" It resembles the beaver {castor fher) in the form 
and substance of some of the bones of the limbs, in 
the flattened and dilated extremity of the tail, and 
the elongation of the transverse processes of the 
louver caudal vertebrae, but no further. 

*' It has much less resemblance to the mole {talpa 



THE CHLAMYPHORUS. 329 

Europed) than its external form and subterranean 
habits would induce us to expect. In the shortness 
and great strength of the legs, and in the articulation 
of the claws to the first phalanges of the toes, it is 
similar ; but in the form of the bones of the anterior 
extremity, as well as in the compressed claws, it is 
perfectly different; nor do the articulations of the 
bones, nor the arrangement of the muscles, allow 
any of the lateral motion so conspicuous in the mole ; 
the hinder extremities of the chlamyphorus are also 
much more powerful. It resembles the sloth (hra- 
dypus tndactyhis) in the form of the teeth and in 
the acute descending process of the zygoma; but here 
all comparison with the sloth ceases. 

'' The skeleton of the chlamyphorus will be found 
to resemble that of the armadillo {dasypi species 
plures) more than any other known quadruped. In 
the peculiar ossification of the cervical vertebrse, in 
possessing the sesamoid bones of the feet, in the 
general form of all the bones, except those of the 
pelvis, as well as in the nature of the external cover- 
ing, they are decidedly similar ; they differ, however, 
in the form and appendages of the head, in the com- 
position and arrangement of the coat of mail, and 
particularly in the posterior truncated extremity and 
tail. 

'* There is a resemblance to be perceived in the 
form of some of the bones of the chlamyphorus 
to those of the orycteropus capensis and myrme- 
cophaga juhata, as might be expected in animals 



330 THE CHLAMYFHORUS. 

belonging to the same order. To the echidna and 
ormihorhynchus it is also similar in the form of the 
first bone of the sternum, and in the bony articula- 
tions, as well as the dilated connecting plates, of the 
true and false ribs. It becomes interesting to be 
able to establish even small points of similarity be- 
tween the most extraordinary quadrupeds of New 
Holland and those of South America ; that continent 
producing in the various species of didelpMs other 
resemblances to the ma7'supiata. In the form of the 
lower jaw, and in other points equally obvious, the 
chlamyphorus exhibits characters to be found in some 
species of ruminantia smd pachydermata. 

" In conclusion I may remark that in the com- 
position and arrangement of its external covering, 
and in its very singular truncated extremity, the 
chlamyphorus is peculiar and unique ; and if a con- 
jecture might be hazarded, in the absence of any 
positive knowledge of the habits of the animal, it is 
probable that it occasionally assumes an upright 
position, for which the flattened posterior seems 
admirably adapted. It is also unique in the form 
and various appendages of the head, and most par- 
ticularly in possessing an open pelvis, no instance of 
which, as far as I am acquainted, has ever as yet 
occurred in any species of mammalia." 

Since Mr. YarrelFs observations Dr. Buckland, 
in his description of the niegatheriiim, has further 
pointed out the resemblances of the chlamyphorus to 
that fossil monster. 




.y^^*^ 




^•^'o^-ffiM s 



CHLAMYPHORUS 



PART III. 



TRADE AND PUBLIC DEBT. 



333 



CHAPTER XV. 
TRADE. 

Advantages of the situation of Buenos Ayres in a commercial point 
of view. Amount of Imports into Buenos Ayres in peaceable 
times. From what Countries. Great proportion of the whole 
British Manufactures. Articles introduced from other parts of the 
World. The Trade checked by the Brazilian War, and sub- 
sequent Civil Disturbances. Recovering since 1831. Propor- 
tion of it taken off by Monte Video since its independence. Com- 
parative view of Exports. Scarcity of Returns. Capabilities 
of the Country. Advantage of encouraging Foreigners. The 
Wool Trade becoming of importance owing to their exertions. 
Other useful productions which may be cultivated in the in- 
terior. Account of the origin and increase of the Horses and 
Cattle in the Pampas. 

In a commercial point of view we have only to look 
at the map to be satisfied of the great importance of 
the geographical position of Buenos Ayres. From 
the Amazons along a line of coast upwards of 2000 
miles in extent, the River Plate affords the only 
means of communicating with all those vast regions 
in the interior of the continent comprised between 
the Andes and the mountainous districts which bound 
Brazil to the west. Not only the provinces of 
the Argentine Republic and of Paraguay, but the 



334 TRADE OF 

now independent states of Bolivia and Peru, are as 
yet only accessible from the Atlantic through the 
Rio de La Plata. 

If there is but little intercourse between these 
states at present, it must be ascribed to political 
causes alone, and to such confined and restrictive 
notions as are, perhaps, to be expected from govern- 
ments in their infancy. 

The people of Bolivia and the eastern districts of 
Peru, whose wants from Europe were formerly sup- 
plied through Buenos Ayres, are now under separate 
governments of their own, which seem anxious to 
display their commercial as well as political in- 
dependence of their old connexions by endeavouring 
to force the trade through other channels more im- 
mediately under their own control ; but, however 
desirous those governments may be, under present 
circumstances, to establish a direct intercourse with 
Europe through their own ports in the Pacific, and 
however well adapted those ports may be for the 
supply of the provinces upon the west coast of 
America, there can be no doubt, so far as regards 
all those which lie to the eastward of the Cordillera, 
that, whenever the intermediate rivers shall be navi- 
gated by steam, for which they are so admirably 
calculated, the people of those vast countries will be 
much more easily supplied with all they want from 
Europe by inland water-carriage direct from Bufenos 
Ayres than by the present circuitous route round 
Cape Horn, and the subsequent expensive convey- 



BUENOS AYRES. 335 

ance by mules across the sandy deserts of Atacama, 
and the precipitous passages of the Andes. 

As these young states acquire some practical 
knowledge of their real interests, and advance in the 
science of political economy, it may be expected 
that they will naturally make such arrangements 
amongst themselves for an interchange of commer- 
cial advantages as cannot but prove to their mutual 
benefit. And what could be of more importance, 
either to Buenos Ayres or Bolivia, or the back 
provinces of Brazil, than the establishment of an 
internal communication with each other by means of 
steam- navigation ? 

In the mean time, however, the trade of Buenos 
Ayres is limited to the supply of the people of her 
own provinces, if I may so call those in more im- 
mediate political connexion with her, — the soi-disant 
republic of the Rio de La Plata. 

In order to show what may be the extent of that 
trade in times of peace and domestic quiet, it is ne- 
cessary to go some years back. 

From 1821 to 1825 the Republic was in a state of 
comparative tranquillity, and the government of 
Buenos Ayres in the hands of a provincial adminis- 
tration, wise enough to see how mainly the pros- 
perity and importance of their country depended 
upon the fostering of its trade, and the establishment 
of a commercial intercourse with the rest of the world 
upon the most liberal principles. It was during that 
interval of repose and prosperity that I first landed 



336 IMPORTS FROM 

in Buenos Ay res, and found all classes of the people 
rejoicing in the blessings of peace. 

All the information which it was my duty to 
collect tended to show the great commercial ca- 
pabilities of the country, and the facilities afforded 
by Buenos Ay res as an emporium for the trade 
with a very great part of the population of the in- 
terior of South America. 

From a variety of documentary evidence in con- 
firmation of this, which was furnished to me at the 
time, both by the British merchants and by the local 
authorities, I shall in the first instance quote the 
returns for the year 1822, as exhibiting the nature 
and amount of the trade of Buenos Ayres under the 
circumstances of undisturbed peace to which I have 
referred — that is, the trade of Buenos Ayres in- 
dependently of the supply of any part of Peru, 
Bolivia, or Paraguay. 

And first, with regard to the Import trade : — 

From a return furnished by the custom-house at 
Buenos Ayres of all their imports from foreign 
countries in the year 1822, it appears that they 
amounted to 11,267,622 Spanish dollars, according 
to their official valuation, which, generally speaking, 
may be considered to be about twenty per cent, 
below" the wholesale prices in the market. 

This amount was computed to be made up from 
the several foreign countries as under, viz : — 



FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



337 



1st. 


From Great Britain to the value of 


5,730,952 


2nd. 


jj 


France .... 


820,109 


Srd. 


J> 


the North of Europe — Hol- 
land, Germany, Sweden, and 








Denmark .... 


552,187 


4th. 


JJ 


Gibraltar, Spain, and Sicily 


848,363 


5th. 


3J 


the United States 


1,368,277 


6th. 


3J 


Brazil .... 


1,418,768 


7th. 


ii 


China .... 


165,267 


8th. 


93 


the Havana 


248,025 


9th. 


J> 


Chile and Peru . 

Spanish Dollars 


115,674 




11,267,622 



of which about 1,323,565 dollars were afterwards 
reshipped for ports on the neighbouring coast of 
Brazil, Monte Video, Chile, and Peru. 

The important proportion of the British trade in 
this statement is very manifest ; it amounts in fact 
to as much as the trade of all other foreign countries 
with Buenos Ayres put together. Comparing it 
with the importations in the most liberal period of 
the Spanish colonial system, it is more than double 
the average value * of the whole yearly imports into 
the Vice-Royalty, for the supply, not only of the 
provinces immediately attached to Buenos Ayres, but 



* The official valuation of the average imports from 1792 to 1796, 
inclusive, was only 2,606,754 dollars ; though at that period every 
article sent from Spain was charged at the most exorbitant price to 
the colonists. 

Z 



338 IMPORT TRADE 

of all Upper Peru and Paraguay, containing a popu- 
lation numerically threefold that of the present re- 
public of the Provinces of La Plata. 

At that period British cotton manufactures were 
unknown at Buenos Ayres ; silks from Spain, and 
French and German linens, alone were in use, the 
high prices of which generally confined, them to 
the rich, the poorer classes being miserably clad 
in the coarse manufactures of the interior. It is 
true that in some parts of Peru and Paraguay the 
native manufactures were brought to some perfec- 
tion, but it was by so tedious a process, that if they 
reached any degree of fineness they were rather 
articles of luxury and curiosity than of any advan- 
tage to the people at large for their domestic pur- 
poses. But when the port opened, and British ma- 
nufactures became known, the low prices at which 
they were sold at once occasioned a great and gene- 
ral demand for them, and this has gone on yearly 
increasing, till, amongst the country population es- 
pecially, the manufactures of Great Britain are be- 
come articles of primary necessity. The gaucho is 
everywhere clothed in them. Take his whole equip- 
ment — examine everything about him — and what is 
there not of raw hide that is not British ? If his 
wife has a gown, ten to one it is made at Man- 
chester ; the camp-kettle in which he cooks his food, 
the earthenware he eats from, the knife, his poncho, 
spurs, bit, all are imported from England. 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 339 

I am tempted here to go further, and to ask, who 
enables him to purchase those articles? who buys 
his master's hides, and enables that master to employ 
and pay him ? who but the foreign trader ? Stop 
the trade with foreign nations, and how long would 
it be ere the gaucho would be reduced to the state 
of the Indian of the pampas, fed on his beef and 
horse-flesh, and clothed in the skins of wild beasts ? 
I put the question to those people in Buenos Ayres, 
for there are still some such there, who continue to 
look with jealousy on foreigners, and would fain have 
the lower orders believe that the country has been 
ruined since they were allowed freely to come 
amongst them. 

To return, however^ to our subject. By far the 
greatest part of the British imports into Buenos 
Ayres consist of the plain and printed calicoes and 
cloths, which, as I have just stated, are become of 
the first necessity to the lower orders in this part of 
South America : the cheaper we produce them, the 
more they will take ; and thus it is that every im- 
provement in our machinery at home, which lowers 
the price of these manufactures, tends to contribute 
(we hardly perhaps know how much) to the com- 
forts of the poorer classes in those remote countries. 

In the sale of most of these articles no other 
foreign country can compete with Great Britain, 
from the low cost of their production ; and as to any 
native manufactures, it would be idle to think of 

z 2 



340 



IMPORT TRADE 



them in a country as yet so scantily peopled, where 
every hand is wanted, and may be turned to a ten- 
fold better account, in augmenting its natural re- 
sources and means of production, as yet so imper- 
fectly developed. 

Besides our cotton, linen, woollen, and silk manu- 
factures, Ave also send to Buenos Ayres considerable 
quantities of ironmongery and cutlery, coarse and 
fine earthenware, glass, foreign brandies and wines, 
and a variety of other articles, the nature and value 
of which, in detail, is fully exhibited in the general 
return given in the Appendix of the principal 
articles of British growth and manufacture which 
have been exported from this country to the River 
Plate in all the several years from 1830 to 1837 
inclusive. 

The total amount of the produce and manufactures 
of the United Kingdom alone (exclusive of foreign 
and colonial produce), exported direct from Great 
Britain to the River Plate in the last sixteen years, 
has been as follows : — 



Year. 

1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 
1826 
1827 
1828 



Declared 
Value. 

£981,047 
664,436 

1,141,920 
849,920 
371,117 
154,895 
312,389 



Observations. 

Years of peace ; average 
£909,330. 

Buenos Ayres blockaded 
by the Brazilians. 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 



341 



Year. 


Declared 

Value. 


Observations. 


1829 . 


. . 758,540' 




1830 . 


. 632,172 




1831 . 


. 339,870 




1832 . 

1833 . 

1834 . . 


. 660,151 
. 515,362 
. 831,564 


^Average from 
^1837, £643,291 


1835 . . 


. 658,523 




1836 . 


. 697,334 




1837 . . 


. 696,104J 





1829 to 



To these amounts may be yearly added about 
£40,000 more for the value of foreign and colonial 
produce sent direct from Great Britain. 

This will give some idea of the general nature and 
amount of our direct trade with the River Plate, and it 
w^ill be evident how mainly Great Britain contributes 
to all the essential wants, as well as domestic com- 
forts, of the people of that part of the world. 

The trade of France is different ; — whilst we ad- 
minister to the real wants of the community, France 
sends them articles rather of luxury than necessity, 
such as superfine cloths and linens, merinos, cash- 
meres, silks and cambrics, lace, gloves, shoes, silk 
stockings, looking-glasses, fans, combs, jewellery, 
and all sorts of made-up finery. 

In 1822 it has been shown that the imports 
into Buenos Ayres from France were calculated 
to amount to 820,109 Spanish dollars, or about 
164,022/. sterling. By official returns since pub- 



342 



IMPORT TRADE 



lislied in the latter country it appears that, from 
1829 to 1836, the imports and exports were as fol- 
low, calculated in English sterling, viz. : — 





Exports from 


Imports from the 


Year. 


France. 


River Plate. 


1829 . 


£184,732 . 


. £182,861 


1830 . 


. 69,378 . 


. 155,838 


1831 . 


92,675 . 


. 128,732 


1832 . 


187,486 . 


. 186,100 


1833 . 


201,348 . 


. 187,053 


1834 . 


154,219 . 


. 234,116 


1835 . 


178,766 . 


. 215,809 


1836 . 


. 231,373 . 


. 198,787 



From Germany and Holland the imports, gene- 
rally speaking, are of a more substantial kind again. 
German cloths and linens, and printed cottons from 
the Rhine, Avere at one period introduced in consider- 
able quantities. A branch of the Rhenisb Manufac- 
turing Company was set up in Buenos Ayres in 
1824, for the sale particularly of the latter articles, 
and the low prices at which, for a time, they were 
sold threatened to interfere with the demand for 
similar goods of British manufacture ; it turned out, 
however, that the prices in question did not remu- 
nerate the com[)any, and the establishment, not an- 
swering, was broken up : — the German printed cot- 
tons have been quite driven out of the field by British 
goods of the same description. 

From the Netherlands arms, especially swords 
and pistols, are brought; and Holland sends gin, 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 343 

butter and cheese, and Westphalia hams, for all 
which there is a large demand amongst the natives. 
This trade is chiefly from Antwerp, which is the 
principal market for the sale of the Buenos Ayrean 
hides on the continent. 

The importations from the Baltic consist of iron, 
cordage, canvas, pitch and tar, and deals. 

The Mediterranean trade is principally in Sicilian 
and Spanish produce, of which the most important 
items are the cheap red wines of Sicily, the common 
wines of Catalonia, brandies, olive oil, maccaroni, 
and dried fruits, and used to be chiefly carried on 
in British shipping, and through British houses at 
Gibraltar : — latterly, however, a great part of these 
importations have been in Sardinian vessels, from 
twenty to thirty of which now visit Buenos Ay res 
annually, instead of three or four, as was the case 
ten years ago ; in amount this trade is fully equal 
to that from France, or from the north of Europe. 
Had Spain at an earlier period recognised the inde- 
pendence of the new states, she, instead of foreigners, 
would undoubtedly have reaped the advantages of 
this trade. Nor would this have been all : the habits 
of the people, the customs they had been brought 
up in, not to speak of international ties and con- 
nexions, — all would have most forcibly tended to an 
active commercial intercourse between her ci-devant 
colonies and Spain, which would have been of vast 
importance to the latter : — as it is, she has waited till 
those habits, and customs, and ties have passed away, 



344 IMPORT TRADE 

and till a new race has grown up destitute of those 
kindred feelings which naturally animated the last 
generation, if not hostile to her from the disastrous 
effects produced by her long and obstinate refusal to 
recognise their political existence. 

Spain must now take her chance in competing 
with other nations, with the disadvantage of being 
the last in the field. The cheapness, however, of 
her wines will always ensure a large demand for 
them, especially the common red wines of Catalonia. 
There is also still some demand for Spanish serges, 
and silks, and velvets, the sewing silks of Murcia, 
and Spanish snuff; but, as most of these articles 
can be imported from France of as good quality, and 
at lower prices, the sale of them is very limited : — 
great quantities of paper also were formerly intro- 
duced from Spain, but it is now brought from other 
countries, especially from Genoa, of a quality which 
is preferred, and at lower prices. The annual im- 
portation of Spanish and Sicilian wines is from 
10,000 to 12,000 pipes, and about 1000 of brandy. 

The trade with the United States was long a 
very unnatural one, the principal article of import 
from thence being flour, of which the average im- 
portations for several years amounted to above 
50,000 barrels. 

It is not, perhaps, to be wondered at that the 
larger profits of cattle-breeding should for a time 
have superseded the pursuits of agriculture, but the 
inconvenience and evils of an habitual dependence 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 345 

upon any foreign country, particularly upon one at 
such a distance as North America, for the daily 
bread of a whole population, became at last so mani- 
fest that the legislature found itself called upon to 
interpose to put an end to it, and to pass such enact- 
ments as were necessary to foster and protect the 
agricultural interests of the native proprietors. The 
consequence has been that the province of Buenos 
Ayres, which is capable of producing as good wheat 
as any country in the world, has again commenced 
growing not only a sufficiency for the consumption 
of its own population, but for exportation ; and in 
the last two or three years both flour and corn have 
been articles of shipment from the River Plate, 
chiefly to Brazil. 

If we except the flour, the principal articles of 
import from the United States for several years were 
the coarse unbleached cloths of their own manufac- 
ture, called " domestics," of which, for a time, very 
large quantities were sent to the Spanish- American 
markets ; indeed the very low prices at which these 
goods were long sold brought them into great de- 
mand in almost every part of the world where they 
were admitted, although now, I believe, like the 
printed goods from Germany, they can with difficulty 
compete with similar manufactures made at Man- 
chester. Their other imports into Buenos Ayres 
consist of spirits, soap, sperm candles_, dried and 
salted provisions, tobacco, furniture of an ordinary 
though showy description, and deals. 



346 



IMPORT TRADE 



From the returns laid before Congress it appears 
that the amount of the direct trade between the 
United States and the river Plate from 1829 to 
1836 was as follows, calculated at the rate of five 
dollars per pound sterling : — 



Year. 


Exports from the 
United States. 


Imports from 
River Plate. 


1829 . 


. £125,210 . 


£182,422 


1830 


. 125,977 . 


286,376 


1831 


. 131,956 . 


. 185,620 


1832 . 


. 184,608 . 


312,034 


1833 


. 139,945 . 


, 275,423 


1834 


. . 194,367 . 


. 286,023 


1835 


. 141,783 . 


175,723 


1836 


. 76,986 . 


210,700 



Besides their direct trade, the North Americans 
have at times found a profitable employment for 
their shipping in carrying Buenos Ayrean produce 
(jerk beef) to the Havana, and in the coasting- 
trade between Brazil and the River Plate, though 
the latter is now for the most part taken out of their 
hands by the Brazilians themselves^ who of late years 
have become the carriers of their own produce. 

This trade (with Brazil) has been even more dis- 
advantageous to Buenos Ayres than that with the 
United States. The only article of native produce 
to any amount which Brazil takes from the River 
Plate is the jerk beef; whilst there is hardly an 
article of Brazilian produce sent there which might 
not be grown within the republic itself The tobacco. 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 347 

the sugars, the coffee, and the rice sent from thence, 
might all be produced in any quantity in the northern 
provinces of La Plata: — even the yerba-mate, or 
Paraguay tea, once so fruitful a source of profit to 
the Vice-Royalty of Buenos Ayres, is novi^ intro- 
duced from the southern provinces of Brazil. It is 
true that Paraguay Proper, where the greater part of 
it was grown, has been closed for some years, but 
there is no reason why it should not have been cul- 
tivated in Corrientes or the Missions with just as 
much success as in the Brazilian province of Rio 
Grande : — as it is, owing to the inferior method of 
preparing it, the Brazilian yerba-mate is not equal 
to that of Paraguay, and its use is, in consequence, 
very much confined to the lower orders, whilst the 
higher classes are imbibing a very general taste for 
the teas of China as a substitute. 

The imports from China, which appear in the 
account quoted at page 337, consisted of assorted 
cargoes of teas, silks, crapes, nankeens, wearing- 
apparel, tortoise-shell for ladies* combs, earthenware, 
matting, and a variety of minor articles, introduced 
principally on British account, though under the 
American flag, in consequence of our own restrictive 
regulations not allowing at that time the employ- 
ment of British shipping in such a speculation. 
Cargoes of a similar description have since occa- 
sionally been introduced, but I believe it has been 
found to answer better to import the articles into 
Buenos Ayres as they may be wanted, either from 



348 IMPORT TRADE 

the United States^ or from Rio de Janeiro, or from 
England, than to freight ships expressly to introduce 
cargoes direct from China. A certain quantity of 
Chinese goods will always find a ready sale in the 
Buenos Ayrean market. 

The Havana trade has been an important one to 
Buenos Ayres. Besides large shipments of mules 
which are sent there, it takes off the greatest portion 
of the jerk beef made in the country. It is used 
there and in Brazil as an article of food for the slave 
population ; and the method of preparing it having 
of late years been greatly improved, there is a con- 
stant and increasing demand for it. If permitted to 
be equally imported into the British West India co- 
lonies it would probably find a large sale amongst 
the same class of persons. I have been given to 
understand that the best quality might be delivered 
there under twopence a-pound, allowing for a mo- 
derate duty : — its wholesomeness may be estimated 
from the fact that, during the prevalence of the 
cholera a few years back at the Havana, it was 
observed there was a much less mortality among 
the slaves fed upon jerk beef than on those planta- 
tions where they were kept on other diet. 

With respect to the trade with Chile and Peru, it 
is of very trifling importance, and, whenever it has 
been otherwise, has mainly consisted of re-exports 
from Buenos Ayres of surplus stocks of European 
goods, for the favourable sale of which there may 
have been an occasional opening in the ports of the 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 349 

Pacific. There is no sale for Buenos Ayrean pro- 
duce on the western coast, since the stoppage of the 
supply of yerba-mate, of which, in old times, an im- 
mense quantity was sent across the Andes to Chile 
and Peru, and paid for in the precious metals. 

From 1821 to 1826 the trade between Buenos 
Ayres and foreign countries underwent little change, 
but the breaking out of the war with Brazil then 
interrupted it, and for nearly three years Buenos 
Ayres was blockaded by the naval forces of the 
Emperor, during which time the only foreign goods 
imported were by such few" vessels, chiefly North 
American, as broke the blockade : — hardly was that 
war concluded, when the troops returning from the 
Banda Oriental, elated with their successes against 
the Brazilians, revolted, overturned the government, 
and threw the whole republic into confusion ; in the 
long struggle to put them down which ensued, the 
country population, taking part, abandoned their 
industrious pursuits, amongst the consequences of 
which were a loss and destruction of property in- 
finitely greater and more ruinous to the nation than 
all the waste and cost of the war with Brazil. 
Public confidence was shaken to its foundation, and, 
although it is true that, after a time, the constitu- 
tional authorities were re-established, it was at an 
enormous sacrifice of public and private wealth. 

The commercial interests of the community were 
greatly depressed by these events. When the block- 
ade of the river was raised at the close of 1828 there 



350 TRANSIT TRADE 

had been by no means such an influx of foreign goods 
as might have been expected ; and, when civil dissen- 
sions shortly afterwards broke out, it was evident that 
the mercantile houses in Buenos Ayres had suffered 
too severely from the consequences of the war, and 
the ruinous depreciation of the currency, to en- 
courage their correspondents in Europe to recom- 
mence extensive speculations in a country which, to 
all appearance, was destined to be sacrificed to the 
passions of contending factions. 

Whilst the republic was grievously suffering from 
these evils, the results also of the newly constituted 
independence of the Banda Oriental began to deve- 
lop themselves in a manner very detrimental to the 
interests of Buenos Ayres. 

So long as Monte Video was in the hands of the 
Portuguese, its trade was extremely insignificant ; 
but no sooner was it freed from that yoke than the 
people began to turn to account their local advan- 
tages, and in a way which it soon became manifest 
would greatly interfere with the trade of their old 
metropolis. In proportion as the domestic embar- 
rassments of Buenos Ayres increased, and led that 
government to raise its duties on foreign trade, so 
the Monte Videans lowered theirs, and offered ad- 
vantages which were irresistible in the adjoining 
provinces, where the duties levied by Buenos Ayres 
on foreign goods had always been considered a 
grievance^ and where there was no national feeling 
strong enough to induce the petty authorities to 



OF MONTE VIDEO. 351 

forego their own separate interests in order to aid in 
sustaining the honour and credit of the capital. 

Monte Video has in consequence become a sort 
of entrepot for the supply of those provinces, as well 
as of a portion of the neighbouring Brazilian popu- 
lation in the Rio Grande ; and to such an extent, 
that the importations of foreign goods there were 
valued at no less than 3,000,000 in 1835, and had 
reached 3,500,000 hard dollars in 1836; whilst the 
exports were nearly equal in amount, and now con- 
stitute an important proportion of the returns in the 
general account of the trade with the River Plate. 

The amount of the imports into the port of Buenos 
Ayres has been diminished in proportion. In 1837 
they were barely equal to 7,000,000 hard dollars, 
according to the official valuation, being a falling off 
of nearly a third from what they were before the 
war with Brazil. 

Making allowances for this difference in its course, 
the foreign trade with the River Plate has varied 
little in its general amount for the last five years. 

So far as regards the British trade, although there 
may appear to be a diminution in the value of our 
exports to the River Plate, as compared with what 
they were in the years immediately preceding the 
war between Buenos Ayres and Brazil, it will 
nevertheless be found upon analysis that there has 
been a large increase in the quantity, especially of 
our most important manufactures, viz., the cottons, 
the quantity of which now sent to the River Plate 



352 



BRITISH EXPORTS TO 



is double what it was in 1825, though the total de- 
clared value has only increased in the proportion of 
from about 350,000/. to 400,000/., the apparent dis- 
crepancy being accounted for by the greatly reduced 
rate at which we can now afford to sell these goods ; 
in the linens there is also an increase ; in the 
woollens there is, on the other hand, a slight falling 
off; the silk goods sent out have varied very little in 
value, but their amount was never of any importance. 
The following is an account, taken from the 
custom-house returns, of the average quantities of 
these several descriptions of goods sent to the River 
Plate in the four years from 1822 to 1825, inclusive, 
compared with the last four years from 1834 to 1837, 
inclusive : — 



Cottons, yards 
Linens, do. 

Woollens . 

Silks, value 



jpieces 
(yards 



Average Quantity 

from 1822 to 1825, 

inclusive. 

. 10,811,762 
. 996,467 
40,705 
139,037 
£16,612 



Average Quantity 

from 1834 to 1837, 

inclusive. 

18,151,764 

1,176,941 

30,428 

100,183 

£15,047 



Upon the whole, the River Plate has been de- 
cidedly the most important of all the markets which 
have been opened to us for the sale of British 
manufactures in Spanish America. It takes off a 
much larger quantity of them than either Mexico, 
Columbia, or Peru ; and although it would appear 
on the face of the official returns that of late years 



THE RIVER PLATE. 353 

an equal or rather larger amount has been sent to 
Chile, the truth is, that a considerable part of those 
shipments were in reality destined for the southern 
ports of Peru, and the west coast of Mexico. 

A comparative account of our exports to all those 
several countries during the last nine years will be 
found with the other returns of trade in the Ap- 
pendix, and will show the relative and aggregate 
amount of British produce and manufactures taken 
by the new states during that period. 

The average yearly value of them sent to the river 
Plate in the last five years amounted to £680,000. 



EXPORTS. 



The nature of the eocport-trade from Buenos Ayres 
may be generally gathered from the following sum- 
mary, or comparative valuation of the exports from 
thence in 1822, 1825, 1829, and 1837; though, 
being taken from the Buenos Ayrean custom-house 
accounts, some allowance must be made for short 
manifests by the shippers, perhaps an addition of 
twenty per cent, to the amount officially accounted 
for in each year. The returns of specie and bullion 
exported are especially liable to this observation. 



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EXPORT TRADE. 355 

The annual account of the imports and exports, 
continuing to take the year 1822 as an example, 
may perhaps be generally stated as follows : 

Dollars. 

The imports for that year, as stated at 
page 337 (less those re-exported), were 
valued at 9,944,057 

From the gross value of the imports 
about 30 per cent, must be deducted 
for duties, landing charges, commission, 
guarantee of debts, and warehouse rent, 
say . . . ' . . . . 2,983,217 



6,960,840 
The exports are estimated at 5,000,000 
Add for short manifests . 1,000,000 

For charges, 10 per cent. . 600,000 

6,600,000 



360,840 



This difference, whicb upon the whole was of little 
importance, was at once accounted for by the in- 
vestments of foreign capital in the purchase of every 
kind of property in the country previously to the war 
with Brazil. 

Although foreigners, as has been already ob- 
served, were heavy sufferers by the events of that 
war, the country was benefited in a way which 
could hardly have been foreseen. In the impos- 
sibility of making returns to Europe during the 
continuance of the blockade, the greater part of the 

2 a2 



356 INCREASED EXPORTS 

large amount of foreign property locked up in it was 
laid out in cattle-farms, agricultural establishments, 
saladeros (where the jerk beef is made), houses, and 
a variety of speculations, the general tendency of 
Avhich was greatly to improve the real resources of 
the country. Thus, although upon the whole there 
was afterwards apparently a falling off in the foreign 
trade of the port of Buenos Ay res compared with 
what it was before the war, there was in reality an 
increase in the quantities of the staple commodities 
of the country brought to market. 

This v/as encouraging, inasmuch as it is in pro- 
portion to the increase and multiplication of the 
native productions that we must look for the sta- 
bility and improvement of this trade — the great 
difficulty being to collect returns for the importa- 
tions from foreign countries. Hides and skins have 
been till lately the only articles of any importance 
obtainable, though it is manifest that the country 
is highly capable of producing a variety of other 
articles of great value in a commercial point of 
view. 

Had the provincial governments been sufficiently 
settled, and the state of the laws in the interior been 
such as to have afforded any adequate security to 
foreigners, intelligent men would doubtless long ago 
have resorted to those parts, and would have given 
a stimulus to the industry of the native population ; 
for it is to such persons the natives must look to 
teach them to what account the productions of the 



OF NATIVE PRODUCE. 357 

soil and climate of the interior of South America 
may be turned in other countries, as well as how 
they should be prepared for those markets. Fo- 
reigners would soon show them new sources of 
wealth, and give value to those which have hitherto 
been neglected or unknown. To them also the 
natives must look for the introduction of machinery, 
which may in some measure compensate for the 
want of hands, which at present makes labour dear, 
and deprives them of a hundred comforts and con- 
veniences in the commonest use in the civilised 
countries of Europe. It would be folly to disguise 
that these new countries are in the very infancy of 
civilisation ; studiously brought up by the mother- 
country in entire ignorance of all that could teach 
them their own value and importance, no wonder 
they now have all to learn. 

When I state that in many of the towns of the 
interior a common wheel-barrow is as yet unheard 
of, that in the capital itself the first pump ever seen 
in a private house was put up a very few years ago 
by an Englishman, it will easily be understood how 
much the natives have yet to gain by the settlement 
amongst them of the intelligent mechanics and 
artificers of more civiUsed countries. Still greater 
wall be the importance to the community if foreign 
capitalists should find sufficient encouragement and 
protection to fix themselves in the country. 

The province of Buenos Ayres, as contrasted with 
the interior, has strikingly exhibited the fruits of a 



358 EXPORTS OF 

more liberal policy towards foreigners ; and could the 
practical administration of the new laws keep pace 
with their spirit, and with the general desire amongst 
the people for improvement, the consequences would 
be still more apparent. As it is, Buenos Ayres is 
at least a century in advance of the provinces in 
general knowledge and civilisation, and her wealth 
and importance have increased in proportion. 
Amongst other improvements which she owes to 
foreigners, she is indebted to some enterprising 
Englishmen for the introduction of late years of a 
new source of wealth, which bids fair to rival in 
importance the most valuable of her old staple 
commodities. 

It is but a few years ago that the wool of the 
Buenos Ayrean sheep was hardly worth the expense 
of cleaning it ; and as to the meat, I doubt whether 
the wild dogs would have touched it. It is well 
known that their carcases, dried in the sun, were 
used for fuel in the brick-kilns. The great pains 
and persevering exertions, however, of some intel- 
ligent foreigners to introduce and cultivate a better 
breed has met with a success beyond all expectation, 
and now promises to be of the greatest importance 
to the future commercial prospects of the country. 
The rapid increase in the value of this article of 
production will be shown by the following com- 
parative account of the quantities which have been 
imported into Great Britain alone in the last eight 
years : — 



NATIVE WOOL. 



359 



1830 

1831 

1832 

1833 

1834 

1835* 

1836 

1837 



269,190 lbs. 



Imports of Wool from Buenos Ay res. 

lbs. 

19,444 

12,244 

30,359 

207,143J 

1,099,052^ 

962,900 
l,073,416p'^4a3191bs. 

2,207,951^ 

Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Harratt are the individuals 
to whom Buenos Ayres is principally indebted for 
this new source of wealth : the greater part of the 
wool sent to England in 1834 was of their pro- 
duction, and sold at Liverpool at very high prices 
compared with those obtained for the old native 
wools of the country, the quality of which comes 
perhaps nearest to the low Scotch wools^ and is only 
suited for carpeting, and other strong descriptions of 
goods. In a country Avhere any quantity of land 
applicable for the purpose may be had almost for 
nothing, it is impossible to calculate to what extent 
the breeding and improvement of sheep may be car- 
ried, now that the wool is known to fetch a remu- 
nerating price in foreign markets. 

Nor is wool the only raw material for our ma- 
nufactures which we may expect to derive from 

* In 1835 nearly a million and a half lbs. were also sent to the 
United States, and the demand for it was likely to increase with its 
production. 



360 NATIVE INDIGO. 

Buenos Ayres. In my notices of the interior I 
have stated that in Paraguay and some of the 
Upper Provinces, especially Corrientes, cotton of a 
quality equal to the average of that of Brazil is 
produced : — this has been often satisfactorily shown 
by samples sent to Liverpool. The natives cultivate 
it and make cloths of it for their own domestic 
purposes ; and we shall probably obtain large quan- 
tities of it whenever foreigners shall enjoy such 
security as may induce them to carry into the in- 
terior the machinery necessary to clean and pack it 
for the markets of Europe. 

From the same part of the Republic, as well as 
from several of the Upper Provinces, any quantity 
of indigo may be obtained, of an excellent quality. 
M. Bonpland, the celebrated naturalist, who has 
spent so many years in those parts, took the trouble 
years ago to draw attention to the peculiarity of the 
indigo found in the province of Corrientes. Speak- 
ing of those parts called the Missions, he says, "The 
whole of this country exceeds description ; at every 
step one meets with things both new and useful in 
natural history. I have already collected 2000 plants, 
a large quantity of seeds, &c. 

" Amongst the number of interesting plants to 
which my attention has been called, I am of opinion 
that this country may hereafter derive great advan- 
tages from the three new species of indigo which I 
have found in these fertile regions. They are very 
different from the plant from which the indigo is 



SEDA SILVESTRE. 361 

obtained in Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, and India ; 
and I flatter myself that the South Americans will 
avail themselves of this discovery, and cultivate a 
plant which has hitherto been disregarded under the 
common name of yuyo. The superior quality of 
indigo that may be obtained from this newly- dis- 
covered plant, and the facility of its conveyance 
down to a port of shipment, render it an object of 
great importance to a country that has only a few 
exports, and its cultivation, if encouraged by the 
government, and undertaken by capitalists, will in 
a few years furnish an interesting and staple com- 
modity for trade." 

This account of the Corrientes indigo was copied 
from the Buenos Ayrean papers into the Annual 
Register for 1822, together with the following re- 
marks on some other of the natural resources of the 
provinces of La Plata, which seem well deserving 
the notice of those interested in the trade with that 
part of the world \- — " there are many other natural 
resources of the country to which the attention 
of the government of Buenos Ayres ought to 
be called. The seda silvestre, a sort of wild silk 
left in the woods by a certain caterpillar, is found 
abundantly on the banks of the Parana, and would 
constitute a valuable export. Very good cochineal 
may be gathered in Tucuman, besides a great quan- 
tity of bees'-wax. 

" The nihia tinctoria is found in many of the ex- 
tensive forests, but the best is in Tarija, the Chaco, 



362 GUMS AND BALSAMS. 

and the Sierra de Cordova ; it yields a brilliant 
colour. It was not till within these few years that 
notice was taken of a new mode of dyeing a green 
colour from a production called by the Spaniards 
claviUo, from its resemblance to a little nail. Some 
persons consider it to be the excrement of a certain 
insect smaller than the cochineal ; others believe it 
to be the insect itself Hitherto it has only been 
gathered in Carquejia, and the point is found in- 
troduced into the bark of a shrub ; it was first used by 
the poor people of the country, and it has since been 
proved by repeated experiments that the Vicuna and 
Alpaca wools, as well as cotton, after being prepared 
with astringents, such as alum, and previously boiled 
in a yellow dye, when thrown into a solution of 
clavillo, acquire a beautiful green colour ; the shade 
of this simple is in itself greenish, and by keeping 
grows darker : abundance of it is found in the valley 
of Catamarca and province of Tucuman, but as yet 
no scientific experiments have been made with it." 

A variety of valuable gums and medicinal balsams 
may be had from Paraguay, of the efficacy of which 
marvellous stories are related by those who have re- 
sided in those regions. The tree producing caout- 
chouc is found in abundance about the rivers in 
the upper part of that province, where the Indians 
have long known its value, and use it as a sub- 
stitute for candles : the children make balls of it to 
play with. They obtain it by making an incision 
in the tree, from which the gum is run into a hide 



TALLOW AND CORN. 363 

placed beneath to catch it, and when cold is wound 
upon large balls for use. 

In addition to these, I may mention nitrate of 
soda, so much used now in our cotton manufactories, 
which may be procured in any quantity from the 
provinces of La Plata :— as yet, I believe, not a 
single bag of it has ever been brought from Buenos 
Ayres, although there is no reason why it should 
not be imported from thence at as low a cost as from 
Chile and Peru ; from which countries alone, of late 
years, the annual importations have been from 50,000 
to 100,000 cwt. 

War in Europe will always create an increased 
demand for the produce of such a country as Buenos 
Ayres. In the last years of the general war, not 
only was there an enormous demand for the hides of 
Buenos Ayres, but considerable quantities of tallow 
also were shipped from thence ; and, although those 
shipments ceased to answer when the Russian mar- 
kets were reopened, they may always be calculated 
upon again should any stoppage take place of our 
ordinary supplies through the Baltic. At present, 
though Buenos Ayrean tallow is worth as much as 
Russian in the English markets, there is no great 
quantity of it produced, in consequence of the animals 
being killed for their hides as soon as they are mar- 
ketable, which is before they yield tallow in any 
quantity worth collecting. 

Corn also was an article of export from Buenos 
Ayres during the general war in Europe, and is 



364 PRECIOUS METALS. 

again beginning to be exported to Brazil — as is 
shown by the account of the exports in 1837. 
It is of an excellent quality, and might be grown 
to any extent. 

Mules, horses, and asses have at times been 
shipped in large numbers for the West Indies and 
for the Isle of France, and have been sold there at 
an enormous profit. 

In the short notices given of the provinces of the 
interior, I have given such accounts of any other of 
their native productions as I could collect. The 
silver and gold mines of Cordova, La Rioja, Men- 
doza, San Juan, and Salta, may eventually become 
productive ; and, when an intercourse is once more 
permitted with Bolivia through the interior, it may 
be expected that some portion of the precious metals 
produced there also will, as formerly, find their way 
to Buenos Ayres. 

In old times, not only were the rich and populous 
provinces of Bolivia exclusively supplied through the 
Rio de la Plata with all such articles as they wanted 
from Europe, but they took from the lower provinces 
a variety of useful productions of their own, for all 
which they paid in gold and silver. Of mules alone 
upwards of 60,000 were annually sent to Potosi 
from the provinces of Tucuman and Santa Fe. 

This internal trade, once of so much importance 
to the people of the intermediate provinces, was 
annihilated in the struggle for establishing the 
independency of the Republic ; for, Bolivia remain- 



PROVINCIAL TRADE. 365 

ing to the last in the hands of the Spaniards, 
of course all commercial intercourse was prohibited 
with the provinces of La Plata, which had thrown 
off the yoke of the mother-country. To this may 
be ascribed in great measure the extreme poverty 
and backwardness of many of those provinces at 
the present day. Salta, Tucuman, Cordova, Santa 
Fe, and Paraguay, lost the best markets for their 
native produce; whilst the people, dragged from 
their pastoral and agricultural pursuits in the first 
instance to fight against their old masters, and 
afterwards to destroy one another in support of the 
ephemeral authorities which succeeded them, natu- 
rally contracted such unsettled and disorderly habits 
as it will require many a year of domestic peace and 
better government to wean them from. To time, 
and a continuance of those blessings, as I have else- 
where said, we must, I believe, look for the remedy 
of these evils, and for any material improvement in 
the condition of the interior provinces of the republic. 



366 



HORSES AND CATTLE. 

In connexion with what I have said upon the 
trade of Buenos Ayres, a brief notice of the origin 
and extraordinary increase of the vast herds of horses 
and cattle which at present constitute so large a por- 
tion of the ricbes of Buenos Ayres, may perhaps be 
not uninteresting to some of my readers. 

America is indebted to Europe for these animals, 
which were unknown to the people of the New 
World before its discovery by the Spaniards. Of 
the two it will easily be understood that the horses, 
which formed so important a feature in the military 
equipment of the conquerors, were the first intro- 
duced. In 1535, the Adelantado Mendoza, who 
was the first to effect a landing at Buenos Ayres, 
took seventy ^vith him on board the expedition which 
accompanied him from Spain, of which perhaps half 
were lost on the voyage, if we may judge from the 
small number of cavalry — one author says twelve, 
another thirty — which he was able to muster in his 
first battle with the Indians. The few that survived, 
when his followers were shortly afterwards driven 
out of that part of the country by the warlike natives, 
were turned loose into the pampas, where they mul- 
tiplied exceedingly, and were found in great num- 
bers forty years afterwards by De Garay, when he 
re-established the Spanish settlement at Buenos 
Ayres. 



HORSES AND CATTLE. ' 367 

It was in that expedition (in 1580) that De Garay 
carried from Paraguay the first horned cattle ever 
seen in the pampas. How the stock had previously 
reached Paraguay is thus told by Dean Funes, the 
native historian. He says, "In 1555 there arrived 
at Assumption, from San Francisco, on the coast of 
Brazil, a few straggling emigrants, amongst whom 
were two Portuguese gentlemen, brothers, of the 
name of Goa, having with them a bull and eight 
cows, the origin of that mighty stock of cattle which 
now forms the wonder of the provinces of La Plata." 
The Portuguese servant intrusted with the important 
charge of these animals in their long overland 
journey from the coast, whose name was Gaete, was 
rewarded for his care of them with one of the cows, 
a payment thought so much of at the time, that it 
gave rise to a saying still in use in those parts — " Es 
mas caro que las vacas de Gaete" (*' Dearer than 
Gaete's cows"). 

But the value then set upon all European animals 
carried to America was enormous, as well it might 
be when the difficulties are considered of safely 
transporting them in the crazy and inconvenient 
shipping of those days. In Peru, in the same year 
(1555), so highly were horses prized, that it was 
thought worth recording in the public archives of 
Cuzco that 10,000 dollars had been refused for one 
offered for sale : — in that city a boar and sow, about 
the same time, were sold for 1600 dollars, and Eu- 
ropean sheep and goats fetched prices nearly as high. 



368 HORSES AND CATTLE. 

Of the cattle carried by De Garay to Buenos 
Ayres it was not long before some escaped into the 
territory of the Indians, where they increased and 
multiplied, as the horses had done before. The 
settlers were too few, in the first instance, to do- 
mesticate more than were necessary for their own 
immediate wants, neither was the extent of their 
lands, for some time, adequate to the maintenance of 
any considerable stock ; the cattle, therefore, ranged 
at liberty in the Pampas, and, though occasionally 
hunted down by the Spaniards for the hides, or by 
the Indians for food, the destruction was as nothing 
compared with the prodigious increase which went 
on : — they also found their way into the Banda 
Oriental, probably from Paraguay, where they mul- 
tiplied even faster than in the Pampas, from the 
better quality of the pasturage and the more con- 
stant supply of water ; and here it was that the illicit 
trade established by the Portuguese appears first to 
have awakened the Spaniards to a notion of the 
future importance of these animals. 

The vicinity of their establishment at Colonia, 
immediately opposite to Buenos Ayres, not only 
facilitated their smuggling across it the European 
goods and tobacco and slaves which were wanted, 
but made it a convenient station for collecting from 
the Spaniards the hides for which they were but too 
glad to find any sale under the restrictions then im- 
posed upon all trade. The Portuguese took good 
care to buy them only at such low prices as insured 



HORSES AND CATTLE- 369 

them an enormous profit upon their exportation for 
other markets ; but the speculation answered to both 
parties, and as the contraband trade of the Portu- 
guese witb Buenos Ayres increased, so we find did 
the cattle establishments of the Spaniards in the 
Banda Oriental. 

Cargoes of hides were occasionally shipped for 
Spain, particularly after the Spaniards founded 
Monte Video, in 1726 ; but the demand was far 
from equal to the production, and the stock of cattle 
went on gradually increasing till the partial opening 
of the colonial trade in 1778. At that period the 
cattle had reached an amount which, perhaps, has 
never been equalled at any subsequent period, but 
the increased demand for country produce which 
then took place was well nigh exterminating the 
whole stock. In 1783 no less than 1,400,000 hides 
were officially registered for exportation, besides a 
vast number clandestinely shipped. 

Superabundance also led to waste to an enormous 
extent ; a gaucho would kill an ox for the tongue, 
or any other part of the animal he might fancy for 
his dinner, and leave the rest of the carcase to be 
devoured by the vultures, or by the wild dogs which 
swarmed in the country, and destroyed an incre- 
dible number of the young cattle. Little respect 
Avas then paid to this description of property, and 
the peons were easily bribed to kill their masters* 
or their neighbours' cattle to barter their hides for the 

2b 



370 HORSES AND CATTLE. 

tobacco and spirits offered to them by the peddling 
traders who wandered over the country to collect 
them. 

The government was obliged, at last, to take 
strong measures to stop these evils : — they enacted 
heavy penalties on those found destroying or selling 
what did not of right belong to them; whilst^ for 
the better identification of property, every proprietor 
was obliged, by a given day, to brand his cattle with 
his own particular mark : — all beasts found without 
a mark after that time were declared to be the 
king's, and the right to seek for and seize them 
was sold to or farmed by individuals. Proprietors 
were obliged to take out licences to sell their hides, 
and the slaughter of cows and calves was entirely 
prohibited. War, also, to extermination, was de- 
clared against the wild dogs. 

These regulations, however feebly enforced, were 
not without effect : — the protection, at any rate, 
which they promised to property was enough to in- 
duce the people to extend their cattle establishments, 
whilst their own experience, after a time, led them 
to regulate their annual sales in more due proportion 
to their stocks. 

The annual increase on a well-regulated estancia 
has been ascertained to be from 30 to 40 per cent., 
which yields an enormous profit to the proprietor, 
whilst his expenses are comparatively trifling. 
The only serious casualty to which the cattle- 



HORSES AND CATTLE. 371 

owner is liable is from the effects of occasional 
droughts, which in these countries are^ at times, 
attended with frightful devastation :— the cattle then 
rush in thousands from their own pastures in search 
of water in every direction, and peri.^h for want of it 
in immense numbers. In the last great drought, 
which continued during the summers of 1830, 31, 
and 32, it was calculated that from a million and a 
half to two millions of animals died : — the borders of 
all the lakes and streamlets in the province were 
long afterwards white with their bones*. But for 
this calamity the quantity of hides brought forward 
in the last five years would have been much greater 
than it has been. 

In the years immediately preceding the independ- 
ency of the republic the annual export of hides 
from the river Plate was from 700,000 to 800,000, 
besides an enormous consumption of them for every 
conceivable purpose by all classes of the people of 
the country, and great destruction by waste ; so that 
it is generally supposed that at that time the number 
of cattle in the provinces was not less than five mil- 

* The drought in question was one of the most destructive on re-- 
cord ; large lakes in the south, never before known to have been with- 
out water, were entirely dried up, in which immense numbers of fish 
perished, the stench from which was described as enough to have 
produced a pestilence. Another serious consequence from it, of a 
different description, was the prodigious increase of all kinds of ver- 
min, especially field-mice, myriads of which overran the country, and 
entirely destroyed the maize-harvest for 1833. 

2b2 



372 HORSES AND CATTLE. 

lions. Azara estimated them at twelve millions (in 
1792), but I never met with any one who would 
agree with him in that calculation. 

By far the greater part of these animals were then 
reared in the Banda Oriental and Entre Rios : — nor 
was it till subsequently to the commencement of 
the struggle for their independence, when those pro- 
vinces became the seat of war, and were laid waste 
by the Portuguese and by Artigas, that the people 
of Buenos Ayres began to occupy the lands south of 
the River Salado, which have given so much in- 
creased importance to that province. Since that period 
every encouragement and protection which it is pos- 
sible to give to this source of national wealth has 
been wisely afforded by the ruling authorities. 

The Pampas are no longer a vast, useless, and 
unappropriated waste in which the animals run wild 
as formerly ; by far the greater part of the lands 
comprised within the boundary line laid down in the 
map having been carefully measured by the govern- 
ment officers, and allotted to individuals, who, as 
they occupy them, are obliged to set up and preserve 
their marks of possession, which, together with the 
bounds and extent of every separate estancia, are 
duly registered in the topographical department of 
the state. Of the hundreds of thousands of cattle 
now reared in these lands there is hardly, perhaps, a 
single animal of a year old which is not branded 
with the mark of an owner, and that mark is equally 



HORSES AND CATTLE. 873 

registered by the authorities, and entitles him to 
claim his property wherever he may find it. 

It is calculated by the best authorities, — the most 
extensive proprietors in the province^ — that the pre- 
sent stock of cattle in the territory of Buenos Ayres 
alone may be from three to four millions ; and it is 
supposed there may be above another million in the 
other provinces : — from this we ought to calculate 
upon an annual exportation of nearly a million of 
hides, gradually increasing. 



374 



CHAPTER XVI. 
PUBLIC DEBT. 

Origin of the Funded Debt of Buenos Ayres. Receipts and Expendi- 
ture from 1822 to 1825, during peace. Loan raised in England. 
War with Brazil, and stoppage of all revenue from the Custom- 
house for three years. Pecuniary difficulties in consequence. 
The Provincial Bank of Buenos Ayres converted into a National 
one. The Government interferes with it, and, by forcing it to 
increase its issues, destroys its credit. Debt at the close of the 
war at the end of 1828. Hopes founded on the peace destroyed 
by the mutiny of the Army ; — deplorable consequences of that 
event. Depreciation of the Currency. Deficit in the revenue, 
and increase of the Funded Debt: — its amount in 1834, and 
further increase in 1 837. General account of the liabilities of the 
Government up to that year ; increased by subsequent war with 
Bolivia, and French Blockade. 

In any attempt to convey an idea of the finance 
accounts of Buenos Ayres it should, in the first in- 
stance, be observed that, although those accounts 
Sire, prima faciei national, they exhibit in reality the 
receipts and expenditure of the government of the 
province of Buenos Ayres alone : — the other pro- 
vinces, containing three-fourths of the population of 
the whole republic, contribute nothing towards the 
general expenses, though most of them manage to sup- 
port their petty provincial administrations. Buenos 
Ayres alone found all the pecuniary means both for 
the war with Spain for the establishment of the inde- 



PUBLIC DEBT. 375 

pendence of the republic, and, subsequently, for liber- 
ating the Banda Oriental from the domination of the 
Emperor of Brazil, which latter state, though gain- 
ing everything by the result, has never repaid her a 
single dollar. Chile owes her as much for the 
armies sent across the Andes, which freed that 
country also from the yoke of the King of Spain, 
and has been equally ungrateful. 

It is only astonishing how this little State con- 
trived, as she did, to raise the ways and means for 
these efforts, and that she did not altogether suc- 
cumb to the difficulties and embarrassments they 
gave rise to : — that they have left her finances in a 
wretched state can hardly be wondered at. Never- 
theless, if it had not been for the struggle with 
Brazil, which succeeded the establishment of her 
own independence of the mother-country, Buenos 
Ayres would long ago have been quit with all her 
creditors, presenting a very different appearance, 
quoad her finances, to the world. 

When the struggle with Spain was over, and her 
military establishments reduced, the arrangement of 
her pecuniary affairs became one of the first objects 
of her provincial administration. 

In 1821 commissioners were ap})ointed to call in 
and liquidate all outstanding claims against the go- 
vernment, of whatever description, not excepting 
even those left unsettled by the authorities of the 
mother-country previous to the declaration of inde- 
pendence. The greater part of these debts were due 



376 PUBLIC DEBT 

for actual services, or for loans to the government in 
times of necessity ; others were of a more doubtful 
character, and had been sold or made over to other 
parties by the original creditors, and into these classes 
they were separated by the legislature : — the one 
receiving obligations bearing an interest of six per 
cent ; the other, receiving the same, bearing an in- 
terest of four per cent per annum ; and these obli- 
gations were simultaneously provided for by the 
creation of public stocks, bearing quarterly interest : 
— the first instance of the establishment of anything 
like a public funded debt in any of the new states of 
South America. Commissioners were appointed to 
manage it, and to pay the dividends quarterly to the 
stock-holders ^ transfer-books were opened, and a 
sinking-fund was established for its gradual redemp- 
tion. The first quarter's interest became due on the 
1st of January, 1822, and, for the credit of Buenos 
Ayres, it should be stated that, notwithstanding the 
great subsequent increase of the debt, under the cir- 
cumstances to which I shall presently refer, the quar- 
terly dividends have, from that time to this, been as 
regularly paid as those at the Bank of England. 

The amount of stock created up to the close of 
1825 was — 

Dollars. 

of 6 per cents . . 5,360,000 
„ 4 „ „ . ' . 2,000,000 

which was sufficient to provide for every outstand- 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 



377 



ing claim against the government up to that period, 
whilst the charge for the annual interest was hardly- 
felt in the general expenditure, which, after the re- 
ductions consequent upon a state of peace, the re- 
venue was more than sufficient to meet, — as will be 
seen by the following returns of the yearly receipts 
and payments from 1822 to 1825, inclusive. 
The receipts were — 





Dollars. 




in 1822 . 


. 2,519,094 




„ 1823 . 


. 2,869,266 




„ 1824 . 


. 2,648,845 




„ 1825 . 


. 3,196,430 


H 



The total of the four years was, Spanish dollars, 
11,233,635, which, at the exchange of 45(/. per 
dollar, was equal, in sterling money, to about 
£2,106,306, or, on an average, £526,576 per annum. 
Three-fourths of this revenue was derived from 
the custom-house duties, the yearly account of which 
was, in the year — 

Dollars. 



1822 . 


. 1,987,199 


1823 . 


. 1,629,149 


1824 . 


. 2,032,945 


1825 . 


. 2,267,709 


In the 4 years 


. 7,917,002. 



The remainder was made up by duties on stamps. 



378 



PUBLIC DEBT 



the contribucion directa, a sort of property-tax ; the 
post-office revenue, the port-dues, rents of govern- 
ment buildings and lands, and other items of little 
consequence. 

The account of the expenditure for the same period 
stood thus : — 



Expenditure 


1822 


1823 


1824 1 1825 


On accouut of the Pub- ") 
lie Debt and Dividends j 

Of the Home, or Govern- ~i 
ment Department . j 

Of the Finance Depart- 7 
ment j 

Of the War Department 


Dollars. 
643,791 3 

446, UO 2i 

264,187 2i 
843,935 6 


Dollars. 
452,038 3i 
513,993 7i 

323,663 3i 
1,249,258 2i 


Dollars. 
547,107 
679.585 2i 

290,696 Ai 
1,111,976 3i 


Dollars. 


Total .... 


2,198,054 6 


2,538,954 i ! 2,629,365 2^ 


2,698,231 5i 



Never had the financial concerns of the republic 
borne so creditable and promising an appearance. 
In this prosperity nothing was thought of but 
schemes for improvement of every kind ; and pro- 
jects were submitted to the government for a variety 
of public works, piers, docks, custom-houses, &c., 
some of which were of manifest utility. 

It was under these circumstances, and with a view 
to carry into effect some of the projected improve- 
ments, that the government of Buenos Ayres deter- 
mined to endeavour to raise a loan in England, which 
there was no difficulty in obtaining upon the terms 
they stipulated for, viz., seventy per cent. At that 
price parties in London contracted with them for a 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 379 

loan, nominally, of a million sterling, to be raised 
upon bonds bearing interest at six per cent per 
annum, payable half-yearly. A sinking-fund of 
£5000 per annum was to be applied to their re- 
demption, and the contractors were further allowed 
to keep back the amount of the dividends for the 
first two years. This, with charges, &c., reduced 
the sum to be paid over to the government of Buenos 
Ayres to about £600,000. The first half-yearly 
dividend became due on the third or fourth quarter 
of 1824. 

Whilst the government were deliberating, amongst 
the many projects before them, how to lay out this 
money to the best advantage, the quarrel broke out 
with the Emperor of Brazil for the possession of the 
Banda Oriental, which soon settled all difficulty on 
that point, and absorbed every dollar of the loan in 
preparations for the ruinous war which followed. 
From the commencement of that struggle not only 
were the expenses of the state enormously increased, 
but, when resources were most wanted, nearly the 
whole of its ordinary revenues (depending upon the 
duties on foreign trade) were suddenly cut off by the 
blockade of the river Plate instituted by the Bra- 
zilians, which lasted during the whole continuance 
of the war, viz., from December, 1825, to Septem- 
ber, 1828, — nearly three years. 

In their emergencies the government determined 
to avail themselves of the bank, an establishment 



380 PUBLIC DEBT 

which had been set up by the leading capitalists of 
Buenos Ayres in 1822, upon the grant of an exclu- 
sive privilege of issuing notes in that province for 
twenty years. It was entirely independent of the 
government, and was managed by directors annually 
chosen by the shareholders. To the mercantile body 
it was of great utility, and its notes, payable in specie 
on demand, in default of any national coinage, had 
become the ordinary currency of Buenos Ayres, and 
Avere as readily taken as gold or silver . — its capital 
was a million of dollars. But, as this could not be 
done compatibly with its independence and existing 
constitution, it was further, in an evil hour, resolved 
to alter entirely its original character. 

Under pretence of extending the circulation of its 
notes throughout the republic, application was made 
to the General Congress* to sanction its conversion 
into a national bank, with a nominal capital of ten 
millions of dollars, towards which the government 



* The Congress in question had been convoked principally for the 
purpose of drawing up a constitution for the republic, and was pro- 
perly only a constituent one : — after a time, however, it proceeded to 
appoint a president, and to pass a variety of laws founded on the like 
scheme of nationalising the republic, which, though acquiesced in, 
perforce, by the people of Buenos Ayres, were resisted vi et armis by 
most of the provinces at a distance, and led to much ill-will and dis- 
union amongst them, at the moment when all their joint efforts were 
required against their common enemy. The president, Rivadavia, 
after a vain struggle to establish his authority, found himself forced 
to resign amidst a complication of difficulties. 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 381 

subscribed for shares to the amount of three millions, 
and very soon assumed the right to exact from it 
almost any accommodation they required. The con- 
sequences were soon apparent. The wants of the 
government increasing, the bank was obliged, in 
order to provide for them, to increase its issues, which, 
ere long, reached an amount obviously out of all pro- 
portion to its real capital*. The aid of the legisla- 
ture was again called in : — the notes were declared 
a legal tender for their nominal value, and the bank 
was relieved by law from the obligation of paying 
them in specie on demand: — its credit fell to the 
lowest ebb, and its notes became proportionably 
depreciated. 

The government, however, had then no alternative 
but to go on with the system it had commenced : — 
the precious metals having wholly disappeared as a 
medium of circulation, it was in this depreciated 
currency that it found itself obliged to continue bor- 
rowing such sums as it required, until, as may easily 
be imagined, the nominal amount of the public debt 
became fearfully increased. Before the close of the 
war with Brazil, the value of the paper dollar of 
the bank had fallen from Abd. to below \2d. ster- 
ling ; and at the end of 1828, besides 6,000,000 
dollars which had been added to the amount of the 



* It never exceeded five millions of dollars, viz., one the amount of 
the capital of the Provincial Bank, incorporated with it ; three sub- 
scribed by the Government ; and about one more by individuals. 



382 PUBLIC DEBT 

funded debt, the deficit on the general account of 
receipts and expenditure was 13,412,075 dollars, 
the whole of which was due to the bank ; and this 
was independently of the English loan. 

Nevertheless, when peace was signed, upon terms 
highly honourable to the republic, the public confi- 
dence immediately rallied. The value of the cur- 
rent dollar rose at once to 24c/., and amidst the 
general rejoicings even the pecuniary prospects of 
the country put on a flattering appearance. Nor 
were the hopes entertained by the Buenos Ayreans 
of a speedy improvement in their finances without 
foundation. It w^as evident, as has been observed 
in the preceding chapter, that, although the fo- 
reign war had led to enormous expenses, the sudden 
suspension of the trade had locked up a large amount 
of foreign, as well as native, capital within the coun- 
try, the investment of which, in a variety of ways, 
had greatly tended to increase its means of produc- 
tion, and consequently its national resources. 

The mutiny of the army, however, under General 
Lavalle, and his barbarous murder of General Dor- 
rego, the Governor, blasted all these flattering pros- 
pects, and involved the whole republic in confusion 
and ruin. The consequences of the civil warfare which 
followed to the finances of the country were deplor- 
able, and infinitely worse than those occasioned by 
the war with Brazil. The currency suffered appa- 
rently beyond all hope of recovery, and the paper 
dollar, after great fluctuations, fell to about Id., at 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 383 

which rate it has, with little variation, been stationary 
for the last seven years. 

In the five years from 1828 to 1832, inclusive, 
the receipts and expenses were as follow : — 

Dollars. 

1 The expenditure of the Government, 

or Home Department, was . . 8,254,515 

2 Of the Department of Foreign Affairs 778,935 

3 Of the Finance Department and Pub- 
lic Debt ..... 29,884,831 

4 Of the War Department . . 31,947,435 

Dollars, currency . . . 70,865,716 

The revenue in the same period only 

produced 40,889,263 



Leaving a deficiency of . . . 29,976,453 
to be provided for by loans and other 
extraordinary ways and means. 

The TVar Department, it will be seen, absorbed 
more than three-fourths of the whole revenue : — nor 
was this the final account of the extraordinary ex- 
penses which may be traced to the revolt of the 
troops above alluded to. Whilst they were cutting 
the throats of their countrymen in the interior, the 
Indians broke in upon the frontiers, left without de- 
fence, and made it necessary to organise a new army 
to put them down, which occasioned a great expendi- 



384 PUBLIC DEBT 

ture, though it was, perhaps, compensated for by 
the extension of the frontiers, and the new security 
it gave to the lands in the south of the province. 

To provide for these expenses the Funded Debt was 
again very largely increased, and at the close of 1835 
stood as follows : — 





4 per cents. 


6 per cents. 




Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Created before the war 






with Brazil 


2,000,000 


. 5,360,000 


In September, 1827 . 


. 


. 6,000,000 


„ February, 1831 


. 


. 6,000,000 


„ March, 1834 . 


. 


, 3,000,000 


„ November, 1834 . 


•■ 


. 5,000,000 



2,000,000 and 25,360,000 
Of which the Sinking 
Fund had redeemed 
up to that time . . 574,246 and 6,389,713 



Leaving unredeemed at 

the close of 1835 . 1,425,751 and 18,970,286 

Besides this there was a floating debt in trea- 
sury-bills and other outstanding claims of nearly 
8,000,000 more to be provided for out of the ways 
and means for 1836, which, after every possible 
reduction of the establishments, were hardly equal 
to meet the ordinary expenditure. In the hope of 
being enabled to pay off this part of the debt, the 
Legislature authorised the Government, in the first 
instance, to offer for sale, at a fixed price, a portion 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 385 

of the lands in the south, acquired in the recent 
campaigns against the Indians : — but their expect- 
ations were not realised, — there were no bidders 
for the lands ; and when the junta met the next 
year to receive the accounts for 1837, instead of 
any decrease in the floating debt, it had risen to 
above 9,000,000 of dollars. They then adopted the 
alternative of creating Public Funds, and passed a 
law for adding no less than 17,000,000 to the Public 
Debt. The funds in question were placed at the 
disposal of the government for sale, at a price not 
lower than sixty per cent, at which it was calculated 
that they would produce 10,200,000, and be, there- 
fore, sufficient to cover the floating debt, and leave 
the ordinary revenue free to meet the ordinary ex^ 
penditure of the states. To provide for the in- 
creased interest of the Public Debt, new stamp 
duties and a more strict enforcement of the direct 
taxation (Contribucion Directa) were enacted. 

This was at the commencement of 1837, when, 
including this new creation of stock, tlie responsibili-^ 
ties of the government appeared to be as follow : — - 



^3 Q 



386 PUBLIC DEBT 

First.— The Funded Debt. 

Dollars. Dollars. 

Created up to Nov., 

1834 . . . 2,000,000 and 25,360,000 
Created in 1837 to provide 

for the Floating Debt . . . 17,000,000 

Total created . 2,000,000 and 42,360,000 

Of which there were re- 
deemed at the begin- 
ning of 1837 . . 585,967 and 7,385,422 

1,414,033 34,974,578 

The 4 per cents, reduced 
to the same denomina- 
tion, equal to . . . '. 942,688 

Amount of Funded Debt 

unredeemed (6 per cents) . . 35,917,166 

The annual charge for the interest and sinking 
fund of this part of the debt amounted to 3,055,199 
current dollars. 

Secondly.— The English loan for 1,000,000 ster- 
ling, the interest of which (at the rate of £60,000 
per annum) has been unpaid since January, 1828. 

And Thirdly, — The amount of the bank issues in 
circulation, understood to be about 20,000,000 of 
dollars currency, for the whole amount of which 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 387 

the government had declared itself responsible to the 
public as the easiest mode of settling its own account 
with that establishment upon the expiration of its 
charter in 1836. 

On the other hand, the whole of the ordinary 
revenues were only estimated at 12,000,000 of 
currency, of which about a fourth part, as above 
stated, was required to be set apart in the first 
instance to meet the charges for the funded debt. 

The remaining 9,003,000 was insufficient by half 
to meet the ordinary expenditure of the state, much 
less to enable the government to make any provision 
for a settlement with the English bondholders, or for 
the redemption of the currency. 

This was the state of things at the commencement 
of 1837, as far as I can collect from the accounts 
which have been published ; deplorable as it ap- 
peared, it perhaps would not have been altogether 
irremediable, had the peace of the country been 
preserved, and the war establislnnents been reduced. 

The estimated revenue of 12,000,000 was based 
upon the average of the years immediately preceding, 
which had been far from favourable to the develop- 
ment of the resources of the republic. It was 
notorious that many branches of it were very loosely 
collected ; the contribucion directa, or property- 
tax, especially, which produced little or nothing, 
instead of being made, as it ought to have been, 
one of the most important items in the revenue 

2c2 



388 PUBLIC DEBT 

of the state. In this, as in other branches of it, 
there was no doubt that, with care and good manage- 
ment, the public income might have been greatly 
increased. Besides, there Avere still the greater part 
of the public lands undisposed of, which the legisla- 
ture, in 1836, had given authority to the government 
to sell, for the purpose of liquidating the debt pre- 
viously contracted ; and with regard to the funded 
debt, the operation of the sinking fund Avith its 
accumulating interest was becoming so efficient that, 
notwithstanding its large amount, a very few years 
indeed would suffice to redeem the whole of it, if not 
further increased. In 1837 the sinking fund al- 
ready amounted to more than a million of dollars, 
Avhich, in twelve months, redeemed little short of 
two millions and a half of stock. 

But, as I have before had occasion to observe, 
touching their social condition, so it is most especi- 
ally with regard to their financial prospects, there 
can be no well-founded expectation of any improve- 
ment which is not based upon a continuation of the 
peace and quiet of the country. That, unfortunately^ 
has been again interrupted in the past year, and the 
Republic has not only become involved in the war 
declared by Chile against Bolivia, but in a much 
more serious and disastrous dispute with the French, 
the calamitous consequences of which it is difficult 
to estimate. 

Pending the settlement of their alleged grievances, 



OF BUENOS AYRES. 389 

the French have instituted a strict blockade of Bue- 
nos Ayres, which falls heavily upon those neutral 
parties who have established an extensive commercial 
intercourse with the country. 



APPENDIX. 



392 APPENDIX. 

No. 1. 

Declaration of Independence of the United 
Provinces of South America in 1816. 

We^ the Representatives of the United Provinces of South 
America, in General Congress assembled, invoking that 
Supreme Being who presides over the universe, in the name 
and by the authority of the people we represent, and pro- 
testing before Heaven and all nations and inhabitants of 
the earth, the justice of this our resolution, do hereby 
solemnly declare that it is the unanimous and undoubted 
determination of these provinces to break the bonds which 
have bound them to the kings of Spain, to recover the 
rights of which they have been deprived, and to take 
upon themselves the high character of a free nation 
independent of king Ferdinand VII. and his successors, 
and of Spain ; with fuU and ample power in consequence 
de facto and de jure to establish for themselves such form 
of government as the pressure of existing circumstances may 
render imperative. 

All and every one of them do publish and declare the 
same, and pledge themselves, through us, to carry into 
effect and to maintain this their fixed resolve with their 
lives, their fortunes, and their fame. 

Wherefore be this duly published for the knowledge 
of all whom it*may concern ; and considering what may be 
due to other nations in this matter, a separate manifesto 
shall set forth in detail the grave and weighty reasons which 
have led to this our solemn declaration. 

Given in the hall of our meetings, signed by our hands, 
sealed with the seal of the Congress, and countersigned by 
the secretaries thereof, in the city of San Miguel de Tucu- 
man, the 9th day of July, 1816. 

[Follow the Signatures.] 



APPENDIX. 



SOS- 



No. 2. 

Estimated Population of the Provinces of the 
Rio de la Plata, 1836-7- 



ince of Buenos Ayres, from 180,000 to 


200,000 


Santa Fe . . 


. 15,000 to 


20,000 


Entre RIos . . 


. 30,000 to 


30,000 


Corrientes . 


. 35,000 to 


40,000 


Cordova 


. 80,000 to 


85,000 


Santiago 


. 45,000 to 


50,000 


Tucuman . 


. 40,000 to 


45,000 


Salta . . 


. 50,000 to 


60,000 


Catamarca . 


. . 30,000 to 


35,000 


La Rioja . 


, 18,000 to 


20,000 


San Luis . 


. . 20,000 to 


25,000 


Mendoza . 


. . 35,000 to 


40,000 


San Juan . 


. , 22,000 to 


25,000 



600,000 to 675,000 

This is exclusive of independent Indians within the ter- 
ritory laid claim to by the Republic. 

The population of the Banda Oriental is estimated to be 
from 100,000 to 120,000 souls, rapidly increasing. 

That of Paraguay I should assume, from accounts in my 
possession, to be about 250,000, though I know it has been 
estimated at double that amount by persons who have been 
in the country. 



394 APPENDIX. 



No. 3. 



Statistics of British Residents at Buenos A yres, 
IN 1831. 



A. 

Registered in the British consulate, from 1825 to 
1831. 

Merchants and traders and clerks . . . 466 

Shopkeepers 193 

Physicians, surgeons, chemists, and apothe- 
caries 27 

Schoolmasters 9 

Hotel and tavern keepers 13 

Master Mechanics 93 

Carpenters 362 

Bricklayers 123 

Labourers 667 

Farming men 125 

Tailors 66 

Shoemakers 63 

Painters 7 

Sailors 329 

Registered without denomination . . . 107 

Women 595 

Children 827 



4,072 



The individuals not registered were supposed to amount 
to at least a thousand more, exclusive of the sailors on board 
the British shipping trading with the port. 



APPENDIX. 395 

B. 

Statistics of British Residents at Buenos Ayres. 

Return of marriages, baptisms, and burials of the Pro- 
testant population in Buenos Ayres, from August 1825 
to August 1831, showing the proportion of British sub- 
jects — and in 1836. 

From August 1825 to August 1831, six years. 



Marriages . 
Baptisms . 
Burials 



British. 


other foreign 
Protestants. 


Total. 


. 238 


42 


280 


. n 


13 


90 


. 278 


85 


363 


For 1836. 







The Returns published of the foreign Protestant population 
in Buenos Ayres, give — 

Total marriages in the year . . . .19 

Baptisms * 63 

Burials 55 

The proportion of the British is not given, but may be 
estimated from that quoted in the first period. 



396 APPENDIX. 

No. 4. 

Treaty between Great Britain and the United Pro- 
vinces OF Rio de la Plata. 

Signed at Buenos Ayres, February 2, 1825. 
Extensive commercial intercourse having been established 
for a series of years between the dominions of His Britannic 
Majesty, and the territories of the United Provinces of Rio 
de la Plata, ii seems good for the security as well as en- 
couragement of such commercial intercourse, and for the 
maintenance of good understanding between His said Britan- 
nic Majesty and the said United Provinces, that the relations 
now subsisting between them should be regularly acknow- 
ledged and confirmed by the signature of a treaty of amity, 
commerce, and navigation. 

For this purpose they have named their respective pleni- 
potentiaries, that is to say ;— 

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland, Woodbine Parish, Esquire, His said 
Majesty's Consul- General in the Province of Buenos Ayres 
and its Dependencies ; — and the United Provinces of Rio 
de la Plata, Sefior Don Manuel Jose Garcia, Minister Se- 
cretary for the Departments of Government, Finance, and 
Foreign Affairs, of the National Executive Power of the said 
Provinces ; 

Who, after having communicated to each other their 
respective Full Powers, found to be in due and proper form, 
have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles : — 

Article I. 
There shall be perpetual amity between the dominions 
and subjects of His Majesty the King of the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United Pro- 
vinces of Rio de la Plata, and their inhabitants. 



APPENDIX. 397 

Article II. 

There shall be, between all the territories of His Britan- 
nic Majesty in Europe, and the territories of the United 
Provinces of Rio de la Plata, a reciprocal freedom of Com- 
merce : the inhabitants of the two countries, respectively^ 
shall have liberty freely and securely to come, with their 
ships and cargoes, to all such places, ports, and rivers, in 
the territories aforesaid, to vvhich other foreigners are or may 
be permitted to come, to enter into the same, and to remain 
and reside in any part of the said territories respectively ; 
also to hire and occupy houses and warehouses for the pur- 
poses of their commerce; and, generally, the merchants 
and traders of each nation, respectively, shall enjoy the most 
complete protection and security for their commerce ; sub- 
ject always to the laws and statutes of the two countries 
respectively. 

Article III. 

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland engages further, that in all his domi- 
nions situated out of Europe, the inhabitants of the United 
Provinces of Rio de la Plata shall have the like liberty of 
commerce and navigation stipulated for in the preceding 
article, to the full extent in which the same is permitted at 
present, or shall be permitted hereafter, to any other nation. 

Article IV. 

No higher or other duties shall be imposed on the im- 
portation into the territories of His Britannic Majesty, of 
any articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the 
United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, and no higher or other 
duties shall be imposed on the importation into the said 
United Provinces, of any articles of the growth, produce, or 
manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's dominions, than 



398 APPENDIX. 

are or shall be payable on the like articles, being the 
growth, produce, or manufacture of any other foreign 
country ; nor shall any other or higher duties or charges be 
imposed, in the territories or dominions of either of the 
contracting parties, on the exportation of any articles to the 
territories or dominions of the other, than such as are or 
may be payable on the exportation of the like articles to any 
other foreign country : nor shall any prohibition be imposed 
upon the exportation or importation of any articles the 
growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's 
dominions, or of the said United Provinces, which shall not 
equally extend to all other nations. 

Article V. 

No higher or other duties or charges on account of ton- 
nage, light, or harbour dues, pilotage, salvage in case of 
damage or shipwreck, or any other local charges, shall be 
imposed, in any of the ports of the said United Provinces, 
on British vessels of the burthen of above one hundred and 
twenty tons, than those payable, in the same ports, by ves- 
sels of the said United Provinces of the same burthen ; nor 
in the ports of any of His Britannic Majesty's territories, 
on the vessels of the United Provinces of above one hundred 
and twenty tons, than shall be payable, in the same ports, 
on British vessels of the same burthen. 

Article VI. 
The same duties shall be paid on the importation into the 
said United Provinces of any article the growth, produce, or 
manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's dominions, whether 
such importation shall be in vessels of the said United Pro- 
vinces, or in British vessels ; and the same duties shall be 
paid on the importation into the dominions of His Britannic 
Majesty of any article the growth produce, or manufacture 



APPENDIX. 399 

of the said United Provinces, whether such importation 
shall be in British vessels, or in vessels of the said United 
Provinces : — -The same duties shall be paid, and the same 
drawbacks and bounties allowed, on the exportation of any 
articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Bri- 
tannic Majesty's dominions to the said United Provinces, 
whether such exportation shall be in vessels of the said 
United Provinces, or in British vessels : and the same duties 
shall be paid, and the same bounties and drawbacks allowed, 
on the exportation of any articles the growth, produce, or 
manufacture of the said United Provinces to His Britannic 
Majesty's dominions, whether such exportation shall be in 
British vessels, or in vessels of the said United Provinces. 

Article VH. 

In order to avoid any misunderstanding with respect to 
the regulations which may respectively constitute a British 
vessel, or a vessel of the said United Provinces, it is hereby 
agreed, that all vessels built in the dominions of His Bri- 
tannic Majesty, and owned, navigated, and registered ac- 
cording to the laws of Great Britain, shall be considered as 
British vessels ; and that all vessels built in the territories 
of the said United Provinces, properly registered, and owned 
by the citizens thereof, or any of them, and whereof the 
master and three-fourths of the mariners, at least, are citi- 
zens of the said United Provinces, shall be considered as 
vessels of the said United Provinces. 

Article VHI. 

All merchants, commanders of ships, and others, the sub- 
jects of His Britannic Majesty, shall have the same liberty, 
in all the territories of the said United Provinces, as the 
natives thereof, to manage their own affairs themselves, or 
to commit them to the management of whomsoever they 



400 APPENDIX. 

please, as broker, factor, agent, or interpreter ; nor shall 
they be obliged to employ any other persons for those pur- 
poses, nor to pay them any salary or remuneration, unless 
they shall choose to employ them ; and absolute freedom 
shall be allowed, in all cases, to the buyer and seller to bar- 
gain and fix the price of any goods, wares, or merchandise 
imported into, or exported from, the said United Provinces, 
as they shall see good. 

Article IX. 

In whatever relates to the lading and unlading of ships, 
the safety of merchandise, goods, and effects, the disposal 
of property of every sort and denomination, by sale, dona- 
tion or exchange, or in any other manner whatsoever, as also 
the administration of justice, the subjects and citizens of the 
two contracting parties shall enjoy, in their respective do- 
minions, the same privileges, liberties, and rights, as the 
most favoured nation, and shall not be charged, in any of 
these respects, with any higher duties or imposts than those 
which are paid, or may be paid, by the native subjects or 
citizens of the power in whose dominions they may be resi- 
dent. They shall be exempted from all compulsory military 
service whatsoever, w^hether by sea or land, and from all 
forced loans, or military exactions or requisitions ; neither 
shall they be compelled to pay any ordinary taxes, under 
any pretext whatsoever, greater than those that are paid by 
native subjects or citizens. 

Article X. 
It shall be free for each of the two contracting parties to 
appoint consuls for the protection of trade, to reside in the 
dominions and territories of the other party; but before any 
consul shall act as such, he shall, in the usual form, be ap- 
proved and admitted by the government to which he is sent. 



APPENDIX. 401 

and either of the contracting parties may except from the 
residence of consuls such particular places as either of them 
may judge fit to be so excepted. 

Article XL 

For the better security of commerce between the subjects 
of His Britannic Majesty, and the inhabitants of the United 
Provinces of Rio de La Plata, it is agreed, that if at any 
time any interruption of friendly commercial intercourse, or 
any rupture should unfortunately take place between the 
two contracting parties, the subjects or citizens of either of 
the two contracting parties residing in the dominions of the 
other, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing 
their trade therein, without any manner of interruption, so 
long as they behave peaceably, and commit no offence 
against the laws ; and their effects and property, whether 
entrusted to individuals or to the state, shall not be liable to 
seizure or sequestration, or to any other demands than those 
which may be made upon the like effects or property, be- 
longing to the native inhabitants of the state in which such 
subjects or citizens may reside. 

Article XIL 

The subjects of His Britannic Majesty residing in the 
United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, shall not be disturbed, 
persecuted, or annoyed on account of their religion, but they 
shall have perfect liberty of conscience therein, and to cele- 
brate divine service either within their own private houses, 
or in their own particular churches or chapels, which they 
shall be at liberty to build and maintain in convenient places, 
approved of by the government of the said United Pro- 
vinces : — Liberty shall also be granted to bury the subjects 
of His Britannic Majesty who may die in the territories of 
the said United Provinces, in their own burial places, which, 

2 D 



402 APPENDIX. 

in the same manner^ they may freely establish and main- 
tain. In the like manner, the citizens of the said United 
Provinces shall enjoy, within all the dominions of His Bri- 
tannic Majesty, a perfect and unrestrained liberty of con- 
science, and of exercising their religion publicly or privately, 
within their own dwelling-houses, or in the chapels and places 
of worship appointed for that purpose, agreeably to the sys- 
tem of toleration established in the dominions of his said 

Majesty. 

Article XIII. 

It shall be free for the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, 
residing in the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, to dis- 
pose of their property, of every description, by will or 
testament, as they may judge fit ; and, in the event of any 
British subject dying without such will or testament in the 
territories of the said United Provinces, the British consul- 
general, or, in his absence, his representative, shall have the 
right to nominate curators to take charge of the property of 
the deceased, for the benefit of his lawful heirs and creditors, 
without interference, giving convenient notice thereof to the 
authorities of the country ; and reciprocally. 

Article XIV. 
His Britannic Majesty being extremely desirous of totally 
abolishing the slave trade, the United Provinces of Rio de 
la Plata engage to co-operate with His Britannic Majesty 
for the completion of so beneficent a work, and to prohibit 
all persons inhabiting within the said United Provinces, or 
subject to their jurisdiction, in the most effectual manner, 
and by the most solemn laws, from taking any share in such 

trade* 

Article XV. 
The present treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications 
shall be exchanged in London within four months, or sooner 
if possible. 



APPENDIX. 403 

In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have 
signed the same, and have affixed their seals thereunto. 

Done at Buenos Ayres, the second day of February, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and twenty-five. 

(Signed) Woodbine Parish. 

Manuel Jose Garcia. 

Note, — This was the first treaty entered into by any 
European power with the new Republics of America; — 
whilst it provided a necessary safeguard to British subjects 
resorting to that part of the world, it was of great import- 
ance to the Buenos Ayreans^ not only in a political but in a 
moral sense^ struggling as they were, in the infancy of their 
institutions, under the difficult task which they had under- 
taken of attempting to constitute a Government diametri- 
cally opposed in form and principles to the whole system of 
legislation whereby the country had been ruled for three 
centuries, and which, notwithstanding all their declarations 
of independence, still hung like a drag-chain about their 
necks : — under such circumstances every true patriot and 
advocate for civilization hailed it as the best possible gua- 
rantee of sound and liberal principles, whilst, on the other 
hand, the supporters of the old Spanish laws were propor- 
tionately discouraged, as they saw in it the death-blow to 
the old colonial policy of the mother-country. 



2 d2 



404 APPENDIX, 

No. 5. 
Copy, in theGuarani Language, of the Memorial ad- 
dressed BY THE people OF THE MISSION OF SaN LuIS, 
praying that THE JeSUITS MIGHT BE ALLOWED TO RE- 
MAIN WITH THEM Dated 28th February, 1768. 

I. H. S. 
Senor Governador. 
Tupa tanderaaro anga oroe ndebe ore Cabildo Caziqs reta. 
Aba, hae Cima, hae mita rehebe San Lui y gua orerube- 
teramo ndereco ramo Corregidor Santiagro Pindo, hae Don 
Pantaleon Cayuari Oiquatia orebe orerayhupareteramo 
ndereco aipo bae rehe ore yerobia hape oroiquatia anga ndebe 
hupigua ete rupi, co nande Rey poroquaita Guira tetiro 
oroDQondo hagua Nande Reyupeguara, oromboaci miri ey 
ngatu ndoroguerecoi ramo oromondo hagu^ rehe oico note 
Tupa omona hague rupi Caagui rupi, hae onegua he orehegui 
hae ramo iyabai ete oromboaye hagua ; aiporamo yepe 
oroico Tupa hae nande Rey boyaramo hecobia tetiro oreyo- 
quai reco rupi, Colonia mbohapi yebi ipiei bo, hae ombae apo 
hece tribute hepibeemo, hae anga catu oronemboe Tupa 
upene acoi Guira catupiribe Tupa Espiritu S^o- omee hagua 
ndebe, hae nande Rey upe he^ape bo, hae Angel Marangatu 
'penaaromo rano. Aiporire nderehe yerobiahape ; Ah Siior. 
Gov^oj"- ore rubeteramo ndereco ramo iiemomiringatu hape 
oroyerure anga orereqay pipe San Ignacio ray reta Pay 
abere dela Compa. de Jesus ipicop": hagua ma rehe ore 
paume yepi, cobae rehe catu eyerure anga nande Rey 
Marangatu upe Tupa rerapipe, hae hayhupape; Cobae 
rehe oyerure guegai pipe opia guibe taba guetebo. Aba, hae 
Cuna, Cunumi, Cunatai reta rano ; bite tenanga y poriahu 
bae meme. Pay Frayle, cotera Pay Clerigo ndoroipotai. 
Apostle Sto. Thome Tupa boya martu nia omombeu corupi 
ore ramoi upe, hae cobae Pay Frayle, hae Clerigo nomaey 



APPENDIX. 405 

orerehe, San Ignacio ray reta catu ou y piramo i angata 
oreramoi reta re cabo rehe, hae omboe oreramoi ymonga- 
raibo. Tupa upe, hae Rey Espana upe, ymonemeebo^ 
Pay Frayle cotera Clerigo, ndoroipotai ete; Pay dela 
Compa- de Jesus. Orereco poriahu oguero hosa quaabae, 
hae orobia pora hece, Tupa upe, nande Rey upe guara, hae 
oremeene Tribute Guaqube Ca&, miri ereipotaramo, Eney 
angaque Snor. Govern^- marangatu terehendu aiiga orenee 
poriahu imbo ayeucabo anga ? Aiporire orereco ndoicoi 
Esclavo rehegua, oreremimoarua catu, noromoariiay Caray 
reco iiabo nabo oyeupe ano iriangatabae o amo reta rehe 
mae ymo y piti bo ey mo_, y mongaru ey mo rano ; cohu- 
pigua ete oromombeu anga ndebe, nde ereipota reco rupi ore 
y mombeii haguama ? Ani ramo cotaba ; hae taba tetiro 
riii ocammba ne coite iindebe nande Rey upe hae Tupa upe 
Alia retime oroyeoita coitene hae acoi ramo oremano ramo 
mabae anga pihi panga y arecone ! a ni etei ore ray reta nia 
obia yoya Caaguipe. Tabape rapicha, hae ndo hechairamo 
Pay San Ignacio ray reta, acoi ramo oairme nu rupi cotera 
Caaguipe teco mara a pobo, San Joachin reta, San Stanislao 
reta, San Fernando reta Timbo pegua ocammba yma rapicha, 
oroiquaa pora reco rupi, oromombeu anga ndebe, hae rire 
ore Cabildo Tupa upe, hae iiande Rey upe ndoromboyebi 
beichene Taba reco Senor Governador Marangatu. Eney 
Fiyaye anga oreyerurehague ndebe, hae Tupa nde pitibone, 
hae tanderaaro yebi yebi anga aipohae note anga. 

San Luis hegui, a 28 de Febr°. 1 768, rehegua nderayre 
ta poriahu Taba guetebo. Cabildo. 



406 



APPENDIX. 

No. 6. 



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North 

to 
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Summer . ^333 

January. . . 

February . . 

[March . . . 

Autumn ,< April . . . 

iMay .... 

Winter . . June .... 






- 


a 1 January 
Summer . i r^ , •' 

Irebruary . 

March . . 

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Spring. . < October . 

[ November 

/December 


1- 



APPENDIX. 407 

No. 7.— Some Fixed Points in the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata. 



Province of Buenos Ayres. 



Place. 


S. Latitude. 


Longitude. 


Where from. 


Observations. 




o / // 


o / // 






Centre of the City of) 
Buenos Ayres . . . J 


34 36 29 


58 23 34 


Greenwich 












Anchorage of H. M. S.l 
Nereus in the Outer > 
Roads in 1813 . . . J 


34 34 30 


58 2 


" 


/Variation 12i 
E.— 1813 ' 


Luxan 


34 38 36 


1 1 10 


W. of Buenos 
Ayres 




Guardia del Salto . . 


34 18 57 


2 14 49 


i > 


(Variation 14° 
139' E.— 1796 


Fort Roxas .... 


34 11 48 


2 41 39 


} } 




Fort Mercedes . . . 


33 55 18 


3 4 14 


) ) 




Fort Melinque . . 


33 42 24 


3 30 38 


> } 




Corzo, near the Lake ) 
(source of the Salado) . j 


34 4 55 


3 36 32 


) ■> 




Lake Roxas .... 


34 19 7 


3 2 56 


} 5 




Lake Carpincho . 


34 35 31 


2 52 44 


5 J 




Lake Toro-Moro . . . 


34 49 1 


2 38 30 


J 5 




Lake Palentalen . . . 


35 10 15 


2 6 34 


, J 




Lake de los Huesos . 


■i5 14 30 


1 34 44 


i } 




Lake del Trii^o . . . 


35 14 3 


1 14 54 






Cisne . . \ . . 


35 46 


20 5 


E. of ditto 




Manantiales de Porougos. 


35 54 50 


1 55 


J J 




Lake Camerones Grandes 


36 59 


9 19 






Altos de Troncoso 


36 5 30 


10 55 


J 5 




Fort Chascomus . 




35 33 5 


22 20 


, , 




Fort Ranchos . 




35 30 46 


3 20 






Lake Ceajo 




35 29 49 


16 40 


W. of ditto 




Guardia del Monte 




35 26 7 


31 10 


J J 




Guardia de Lobos. 




35 16 7 


52 10 


5 ? 




Fort Navarro . . 




35 13 


1 3 25 


J > 




N.B. The above positions from Luxan to Navarro 


were determined in the course of 


a survey of the frontiers, made in 1796 by Do 


Q Felix Azara, aided by CerviSo 


and Inciarte, all officers attached to the Commi 


ssion for laying down the bound- 


aries under the treaty, between Spain and Po 


rtugal, of 1777. The Statistical 


Register of Buenos Ayres, for 1822, has added t( 


) them the following : — 


SanPt-dro 


33 40 51 


1 32 






Barradero 






33 43 50 


1 25 4 






Conchas . 






34 25 15 


10 31 






Pergamino 






33 53 16 


2 24 25 






Areco . . . 






34 11 57 


1 26 47 






Arecife (Fort). 






34 3 8 


2 6 13 






Pilar . . . 






34 26 4 


52 54 


J J 




Canada de Moron 






34 40 45 


23 49 






Magdalena 






35 5 29 


44 


E. of ditto 





408 



APPENDIX. 



No. 7 — continued. 

Observations taken on the Journey of Don Pedro Garcia^ in 1810, 
to the Salinas. 



Place. 



Pass of the Salado . 

Palantalen 

Lakes Tres Hermanas 

Cruz de Guerra . 

Cabeza del Buey . 

First Lake of the Canada 

Larga .... 
Lake del Moute . 
Lake de los Paraguayos 
Lake of the Salinas"(centre) 



S. Latitude. 


35 ^ 
35 12 
35 23 

35 41 

36 10 


// 







36 38 





36 53 

36 58 

37 13 








Longitude. 



3 24 



Where from. 



Buenos Ayres 



Observations. 



Positions fixed on the Expedition in 1823, to extend the Frontiers. 



Fort on the Tandil . 

Lake beyond the Tintal 

hills j 

Another further on . 
Ruins of the Jesuit Mission 



37 


21 


43 


37 


40 


3 


37 44 7 
37 59 48 



39 4 

1 27 

2 7 



I Variation 14° 
1 59' E.— 1823. 



Var. 15° 18' E, 



By the Officers of His Majesty's Ship Beagle, in 1832. 

Greenwich 



Cape Corrientes . 

Sierra Ventana, highest! 

summit . . . . . j 
Fort Argentino, near Ba-1 

hia Blanca . . • • j 



Pilot's house at the en-V 
trance of the River Negro j 

Tovsrn of Carmen ou ditto 

East end of the Islands of) 
Choleechel . . . . j 

Junction of the River) 



38 


5 


30 


38 


11 


45 


38 43 50 



57 29 


15 


61 


56 


18 


62 


14 41 



Neuquen j 

Junction of the River En-\ 

carnacion . . . . j 
Villarinos, furthest up the) 

Catapuliche . . • • j 



On the River Negro. 



62 46 15 ! 

62 58 i 

i 



4] 


42 


40 48 


18 


39 





38 44 





40 6 





39 33 






Var. 17° 42' E 
1832. 



by Villarino, 
^ in 1782. 



APPENDIX, 



409 



No. ^ — continued. 

Positions on the road from Buenos Ayres to Chile, fixed in 1794 by 
Bauza and Espinosa, Officers attached to Malaspina's Surveying 
Expedition. 



Place. 



Post of Portezuelas . 
Do. of Desmochados . 
Do. of Sanjon, oa thel 
River Tercero . . . J 
Pass on the Tercero . 
San, Luis de la Punta 
Pass of the Desaguadero 
Mendoza .... 
Uspallata .... 
St. Jago de Chile . 



S. Latitude. Longitude 



o / // 

33 53 
33 10 

32 40 

32 23 30 

33 13 
33 26 
32 52 

32 33 20 

33 26 



61 45 

65 47 *0 

69 6 *0 

70 46 'o 



Where from. 



Greenwich 



Observations. 



Provincial Towns. 



Cordova 

Santiago del Estero 
Tucuman . 
Salta .... 
Corrientes . 
Assumption 



31 26 14 


314 36 45 


Ferro 


27 47 






27 27 *0 
25 16 40 


319 55 *0 

320 12 





Affluents of the River Paraguay. 



Mouth of the Vermejo 

Do. of the Tebicuari 

Fort Angostura . 

Mouth of the Pilcomayo 

Mouth of the Piray 

])o. of the Salado 

Do. Peribibuy . 

Do. Mboicay . 

Do. Tobati 

Do. Ibobi . . 

Do. Quarepoti 

Do. Xexui . 

Do. Ipane-mini 

Do. Fogones . 

Do. Ipane-guazu 

Do. Guarambare 

Do. Corrientes 

Do. Tepoti . 

Do. Inboteti . 

Do. Tacuari . 

Do. Porrudos . 

Do. Jauru . 



26 54 
26 35 
25 32 
25 21 
25 2 
25 1 
24 58 
24 56 
24 50 
24 29 
24 23 
24 7 
24 2 
23 51 
23 28 
23 8 
22 2 
21 45 
19 20 
19 
17 52 
16 25 



320 10 



Ferro 



•M.deSouillac, 
[ 1784. 
Azara. 



ditto, 
ditto. 



by Azara, 
in 1785. 



Quiroga, 
in 1750. 



410 



APPENDIX 



No. 7 — continued. 
Towns in Paraguay. 



Place. 



S. Latitude. 



Longitude. 



Where from. 



Observations. 



Yaguaron .... 

Itape 

Cazapa .... 

Yuti 

Point of embarkation onl 
the Tebicuari . . . J 



o I II 

25 41 15 

25 51 14 

26 9 53 
26 36 4 

26 db 21 



Azara, in 1785. 



The Jesuit Missions of the Uruguay and Parana, as fixed by the 
Boundary Commissioners , under the Treaty of 1777. 



San Ignacio-guazu 

Santa Maria de Fe 

Santa Rosa 

Santiago . 

San Cosmo 

Itapua .... 

Candelaria 

Santa Ana 

Loreto .... 

San Ignacio-mini . 

Corpus 

Trinidad . . . 

Jesus .... 

San Jose . 

San Carlos 

Apostoles . 

Conception 

Santa Maria Mayor 

San Xavier 

Martires . 

San Nicolas . 

San Luis . 

San Lorenzo . 

San Miguel . . 

San Juan . 

San Angel . 

San Tomas 

San Borja . 

La Cruz 

Yapeyu 



The Gran Salto, or Great] 
Fall on the Parana . J 



26 55 12 
26 48 10 

26 53 12 
■27 8 40 

27 18 55 
27 20 16 
27 27 14 
27 23 40 



19 44 

14 55 

7 36 

7 35 

2 36 
27 45 47 
27 44 36 
27 54 27 
27 5S 51 
27 53 34 
27 51 8 

27 50 24 

28 11 23 
28 25 41 
28 27 51 
28 33 13 
28 27 51 
28 18 13 
28 32 49 

28 39 51 

29 11 
29 28 

24 4 58 



321 

321 



5 9 
11 9 
321 14 28 
321 20 14 

321 47 53 

322 14 2 
3-22 19 30 
322 31 23 
322 35 19 
322 43 11 
322 36 27 
322 19 20 
322 17 2 
322 19 30 
322 11 1 
322 19 45 
322 33 22 
322 38 59 
322 49 26 
322 36 49 

322 44 21 

323 1 23 
323 14 29 
323 22 24 
323 37 22 
323 47 15 
322 1 39 
322 4 49 
321 30 
321 17 2 



Fe 






fl S 



by the Bound- 
ary Commis- 
sioners, 1788. 



N.B. Malaspina's Observations on the Shores of the River Plate, alluded to at 
page 97, are not inserted, owing to some apparent inaccuracies in the Copy- 
received, which cannot be corrected without further reference to Buenos Ayres. 



APPENDIX. 



411 



No. 8. — Return of Foreign Shipping arrived at Buenos Ayres, 
from 1821 to 1837, inclusive. 





00 


c4 


00 


00 


00 


S3 

00 


i 


1 


c4 


co' 

CO 
00 


^ i o ! ^• 

CO 1 CO CO 

00 1 00 : 00 


In! 


British . . 


128 


133 


113 


no 


99 


78 


73 


44 


48 


74 


61 


54 49 


61 


N. American. 


42 


lb 


80 


143 


102 


97 


83 


n 


55 


91 


67 


51 


37 


40 


Brazilian . . 


• 


• 


. 






15 


38 


42 


44 


47 


43 


42 39 


42 


Sardinian 


3 


, 7 


6 


6 


5 


15 


23 


20 


26 


30 


43 


23 


21 


20 


French . . 


19 


21 


24 


21 


29 


28 


16 


10 


22 


17 


10 


14 


19 


24 


Hamburgh . 


• 


• 


• 


• 


5 


3 


3 


2 


4 


9 


14 


8 


5 


7 


Dutch . . 


2 


4 


6 


8 


6 


5 


8 


2 


2 


2 


2 


3 


2 


1 


Bremen . 


. 


. 


. 




1 


. 


2 


5 


4 


5 


5 


7 


4 


4 


Danish . 


1 


1 


5 


10 


14 


3 


6 


3 


1 


5 


5 


6 


9 


9 


Swedish . . 


7 


11 


6 


14 


11 


3 


1 


. 


. 


1 




3 


6 


4 


Tuscan 




• 










1 


1 


2 


2 


• 


. 


1 




Roman . . 




* 






• 


. 


1 


. 


1 


2 


1 








Russian . . 










1 


1 


. 


1 


. 


1 


1 


". 






Neapolitan . 










. 


. 


• 


1 


. 


3 


2 


. 


* 




Austrian . 










. 


. 


. 


. 


. 


2 


. 


. 






Hanoverian . 








. 


1 


, 


. 


• 


1 


1 


. 


. 






Portuguese . 










. 




1 


. 


. 


1 


4 


1 






Chilian . . 










. 


1 


1 


. 


. 


1 


1 


. 






Prussian . . 










1 




. 


. 


. 




. 


1 






Belgian . . 










. 


. 




2 


■ 


. 


2 


. 


2 




Haytian . . 








• 


. 


1 




. 


. 




. 




. 




Spanish . 










• 


• 


• 


• 


• 


• 


• 




6 


12 


Totals . . 


202 


252 


240 


312 


275 


250 


257 210 


210 


294 


261 


213200 


228 


N.B. The ye 
been under bloc 
the flag of Mon 
transit-trade. 


ars 1825, 26, and 27 are omitted ; Buenos Ayres having 
kade the greater part of that period. The vessels under 
te Video are omitted also, being chiefly the carriers of a 



412 



APPENDIX. 



No. 



A Statement of the Quantities and Declared Value of British and Irish Produce and 

In each year from 1830 to 1837.— 



Articles. 



1830. 



Quantities. Value 



1831. 



Quantities. Value 



1832. 



Quantities. Value, 



Apparel, Slops, and Haberdashery, value 

Arms and Ammunition ... ,, 

Bacon and Hams cwts. 

Beer and Ale tuns 

Books Printed cwts. 

Brass and Copper Manufactures „ 

Butter and Cheese .... „ 

Coals, Culm, and Cinders . . tons 

Cordage cwts. 

Cotton Manufactures, entered 7 ,-„,j„ 

by the yard. . , . . j ^""'^^ 



Hosiery,") 



value 

lbs. 
pieces 
barrels 
cwts. 
value 
cwts. 
dozens 



tons 



lbs. 
value 

yards 
value 



Lace, and Small Wares 

„ Twist and Yarn . . . 
Earthenware of all sorts . 

Fish, Herrings 

Glass, entered by weight , . . 

„ „ at value . 

Hardwares and Cutlery . . . 
Hats, Beaver and Felt . . . 
Iron and Steel, wrought and ~) 

unwrought J 

Lead and Shot 

Leather, wrought and unwrought 
Saddlery and Harness . . . 
Linen Manufactures, entered \ 

by the yard ) 

Thread, | 

Tapes, and Small Wares . ) 
Machinery and Mill Work . . „ 

Painters' Colours „ 

Plate, Plated Ware, .Tewellery ") 

and Watches . . . . j " 

Salt . . ^ bushels 

Silk Manufactures .... value 

Soap and Candles lbs. 

Stationery of all sorts .... value 

Sugar, Refined cwts. 

Tin, unwrought „ 

Tin and Pewter Wares and Tin ") 

Plates 5 

Woollen and Worsted Yarn . . lbs. 
Woollen Manufactures,entered ^ riieces 

by the piece . . . . j" ^ 

> yard 

Hosiery 
and Small Wares 
All other Articles . 



ilue 



146 
112 

12 
265 

98 
941 

80 

10,805,990 



5,831 

671,945 

60 

2,265 

5,793 
3,165 

545 

40 
34,500 

973,640 



15,610 
5i,730 
149 



6,305 

158 
338 

2,097 
319 

1,219 
308 
585 
200 

324,305 

20,005 

587 
9,617 
72 
3,330 
254 
24,356 
10,262 

7,836 

662 
9,791 
1,254 

31,893 
1,078 



758 
941 

412 

10,365 

1,147 

1,325 

409 



780 



6,242,134 



!,529 



4,237 
1,314 

391 

20 
19,752 

406.583 



5.770 
2,710 

84 
37 



£. 

4,, 341 
443 

i,003 
128 
279 

728 
94 



76,874 

9,943 

30 

4,274 



78 

2 

105 

547 

17,256,838 



5,067 

345 

157 

1,465 

51 

485 

2,160 

430 

63 

391,591 
33,344 



2,969 

58 

20,000 

4,340 

5,058 

351 
5.253 



16,663 

1.514 

222 

293 

1,041 



13,319 

85 

1,089 

186 

125 



701 



yard 



30,328 
84,830 



;ryl 



value 



141,700 

8,184 

4,574 
4,663 



14,901 
49,119 



58,137 

5,077 

1,705 
3,382 



354,684 

35 

2,579 

5,397 
1.711 



14 
23,473 

844,013 



5.309 
29 



22,718 
4,039 

6,128 

219 

6,809 

309 

30,680 
1,619 



163 
i 25.* 520 



690 

445 

8 

24.786 

2,661 

1,912 



35 



1.672 
28.392 

89,219 



117 

2,754 

80 

89,445 

9,099 

4.462 
4.066 



For 1830 £632,1721 1831 £339,870 | 1832 £660,152 



APPENDIX. 



413 



Manufactures Exported froai the United Kinj^dom to the States of the Rio de la Plata, 
(From Returns laid before Parliament.) 





1833. 


1834. 


1835. 


1836. 


1837. 1 




Quantities. 


Value. 


Quantities 


Value. 


Quantities. 


Value. 


Quantities. 


Value. 


Quantities. 


Value. 




' 155 
103 
1 
96 
829 
868 
144 


3,082 
419 
490 

1.712 

10 

555 

3,169 
438 
234 


• '164 

74 

5 

139 

86 

96fi 

100 


£. 

2,096 

3,035 

225 

1,083 

126 

807 

Ts 

150 


59 

2 
1,544 

430 


3,986 

6,388 

115 

1,394 

166 

265 

5 

751 

646 


28 

1 
' 975 

30 


£. 

5,028 

867 

70 

2,065 

275 

5 

' 5i4 

100 


' 105 
68 
9 
72 
35 
713 
153 


£. 

2,111 

1,391 

220 

1,149 

180 

675 

49 

400 

288 




12,731,734 


280,292 
23,311 


20,942,118 


449,831 
33,313 


12,853,287 


312,400 

26,488 


18,628,197 


435,932 
20,588 


20.183,454 


445,291 
18,818 




300 
770,172 


26 
9,377 


9,25S 
523,161 


446 
5,762 


34,560 
598,001 


2,824 
6,212 


4,600 
966,087 


350 

9,748 

2 

2.654 

27,629 
1,925 


5,734 
1.093,905 

1.314 

6,929 

2,146 


364 

7.724 

2 

3,856 

20,531 
3,239 




3,198 

5571 
1.173 


9,737 

100 

20,281 

3,085 


2,156 

■ 16,454 
2,900 


4,929 

60 

33,040 

4.891 


3.029 

8,347 
2.924 


9,844 

196 

30,117 

5,780 


2,596 

7.211 
1,099 




734 


11,023 


1,143 


12,433 


1.033 


9,414 


963 


13,614 


994 


12,859 




38 
33,792 

509,528 


555 
9,219 
1.330 


15 

38,457 


283 

8,341 

943 


13 
30,669 


295 
7,151 
1,284 


24 
16,708 


775 

3,760 

888 


34 

23,987 


703 

5,763 

341 




21,690 


1,487,576 


43,919 


948.026 


34.789 


794,772 


27,844 


1,477,392 


42,591 




. . . 


327 


. . . 


1,073 


. . . 


842 


. . . 


460 


. . . 


656 




• • • 


18 
1,973 


• • • 


72 
2,907 




4,022 
2,634 




40 
2,066 


. . . 


390 
1.769 




. . . 


1,081 


. . . 


1,232 


. . . 


1.095 


. . . 


420 


. . 


1,192 




2,000 
'277.102 

' 131 

8 


34 
11,735 

5.416 
1,441 

287 
30 


1,144 

' 13,100 

* 504 
78 


32 

19,274 

290 

2,064 

1,368 

185 


2.200 

' 18,369 

32 


50 

18,307 

380 

3,202 

«1 


1.121 


32 
9,514 

i.768 


3,480 
* 224 


60 

13,093 

12 

1,545 








15 


61 

4,052 






1.060 




2,006 


. 


2,286 


. . . 


3,390 




. . . 


. . 


6 


1 




. . 


816 


1)0 


672 


130 


23,337 


79,231 


36,673 


172,393 


35,970 


140,915 


26,514 


105.223 


22,555 


93,355 


65,269 


5,640 


112,124 


10.781 


113,750 


9,251 


114,023 


10.121 


60,857 


5,578 


. . . 


3,052 


. . . 


4,801 


. . 


3,593 


. 


4,607 




2.301 




• • • 


3,902 


■ • • 


6,587 




H,347 


. . . 


5.030 


. . . 


3.365 1 




1833 £515,36 


1834 £831,564 


1835 £658,525 


1836 £697,334 


1837 £6 


96,104 



414 



APPENDIX. 



No. 10. 
TRADE OF MONTE VIDEO. 

I. — Return of Foreign Shipping entered and sailed from the 
Port of Monte Video in 1836, with the Estimated Value of 
their Cargoes. 



Countries. 




Entered. 


Sailed. 












Ships. 


Value of Cargoes. 


Ships. 


Value of Cargoes. 






Spanish Dollars. 




Spanish Dollars. 


British 


58 


1,172,658 


57 


951 ,423 


Brazilian 


62 


713,793 


62 


825,440 


American . 


50 


217,402 


48 


295,829 


French 


40 


578,178 


40 


464,430 


Spanish 


15 


311,285 


15 


236,672 


Sardinian , 


57 


102,039 


41 


30,252 


Portuguese . 


13 


15,200 


13 


62,700 


Other Countries . 


•• 


502,082 


•• 


639,909 




3,597,437 




3,443,957 



II. Return, showing the quantities of each Article Exported, and the Foreign Countries 

for which they were shipped from Monte Video in the year 1836. 



Hides, dry . . . No. 

Do. salt ... 
Horns .... 
Jerked Beef . . cwts. 

HcehM, . . { -^tbi 
Cuttings of Hides . 
Horse Hides . . No. 
Grease .... arrobes. 

Wool 

Sheep Skins . . doz. 
Tallow .... arrobes. 
Nutria Skins . . doz. 
Mares' Grease . . arrobes. 
Seal Skins . . , No. 
Tongues . . . doz. 
Mules .... 
Horses .... 
Bones .... tons. 


13 
"fc/D 

c 








.5 

1 

eg 


< 


1 


5 
5 

III 


.-•IS 


61,718 
124,666 
329,836 

]-9,578 

4.468 
15,820 
14,857 
14,930 
1,937 
6,158 
3,990 
2,944 
3.831 

■ 259 


108,428 
13,288 
32.110 

4,622 

'% 

2,300 

2.636 

4,112 

320 

53 


38,848 

297 

142,766 

3.984 

1,584 

20,144 

2,710 

14,140 

4,070 

452 

1,640 

59 

16,000 

io 


67.026 

230 

20,328 

. . 

i,i2i 

30 
353 

3,787 


4,668 
27,291 

436 

960 

2,500 
837 

2,123 
220 

53 


87,942 
2,901 
20,242 

72 

' 170 
192 

' 450 
400 

• 

• • 

• • 

'3 


3,270 

12,552 
218,318 

■ 

i,4i9 

22 
2,425 

' 440 

' 164 

1 


119 

' 850 
88,036 

4,390 
* 161 


372,019 
141,382 
593,625 
306,354 

18,692 

7,776 

37.401 

23,568 

33,900 

9,855 

43,182 

6,570 

3,003 

20,045 

440 

410 

164 

326 



APPENDIX. 



415 





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00 


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CO 


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CO 


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00 





_c 


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CO 





CO 


r^ 


CO 


CO 


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^ 


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00 


a> 


00 


a> 








CO 





CO 




^.-T 


ir- 


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CI 


ci 


10 


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CO 





05 


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00 


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